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Call your bank immediately and place a stop-payment order before the payee deposits or cashes the check. You will need the check number, exact amount, payee name, and date. An oral order works at first, but you must confirm it in writing within 14 days or the order lapses and the check can clear.
Have these ready before you call:
Under the Uniform Commercial Code rule that US banks follow, an oral stop-payment order is only good for 14 calendar days unless you confirm it in writing. The written confirmation extends the order, typically for six months, and you can renew it. Banks take this seriously because the details have to match exactly: if the amount you report differs by even a cent from what gets presented, some systems will let the check through. Double-check your check register before you call.
Expect a fee for the service; banks charge for stop payments as a matter of course. Canadian banks offer the same service with similar rules, though the governing framework is the Canadian Payments Association's, not the UCC's. Either way, call the number on the back of your debit card or use your bank's app, many now let you place the order yourself online.
Then a stop payment cannot help you: it only works on checks that have not yet been presented to your bank. If the payee already has the money, your options are asking them to return it or, if the check was stolen or forged, filing a fraud claim with the bank. This is also why timing matters so much with mailed checks: once the envelope is in the payee's hands, you are racing their trip to the bank.
| What you mailed | Can you stop it? |
|---|---|
| Personal or business check | Yes, with a stop-payment order before it is presented |
| Cashier's check | Not the same way; the bank's own funds are committed, so you must report it lost and sign an indemnity agreement |
| Money order | Through the issuer (USPS, Western Union), not your bank; keep the receipt stub |
| Check already deposited | No; the stop-payment window has closed |
Mail checks in a security envelope, drop them inside a post office rather than a curbside box, and consider tracking for anything large. If a check goes missing in the mail, place the stop payment first and sort out the replacement second: an uncashed lost check is a fraud risk sitting in someone's hands. And keep your check register current; the one time you need the check number in a hurry is the one time you will not remember it.
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