• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

How to recover lost cheques through the court? A civil procedures question

oliveryty

Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2009
Messages
141
Reaction score
45
Location
linyi, shandong, China
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Slightly Liberal
Take cheques for example,

in China's (civil law system) civil procedures, if A lost a cheque, A go to the corresponding court, submit a request for public notice, saying that a certain piece of cheque is a lost one that belongs to A, and if someone else (B, for example) has it (find it) and thinks it belongs to B rather than A, he shall go to the court for explain, otherwise the court would rule that the cheque do belong to A, and declare the lost sheet invalid, A thus may go to the issuer of the cheque for a new sheet of cheque.

In Chinese, it is call Gongshi Guigao, and translated into English as "Public Summon (for Exhortation)".

I am wondering whether there is a civil procedure like that in American law, and what is it called (the legal term)?

Thank you all for your help in advance...
 
Take cheques for example,

in China's (civil law system) civil procedures, if A lost a cheque, A go to the corresponding court, submit a request for public notice, saying that a certain piece of cheque is a lost one that belongs to A, and if someone else (B, for example) has it (find it) and thinks it belongs to B rather than A, he shall go to the court for explain, otherwise the court would rule that the cheque do belong to A, and declare the lost sheet invalid, A thus may go to the issuer of the cheque for a new sheet of cheque.

In Chinese, it is call Gongshi Guigao, and translated into English as "Public Summon (for Exhortation)".

I am wondering whether there is a civil procedure like that in American law, and what is it called (the legal term)?

Thank you all for your help in advance...

Checks do not work that way in the US. If you lose a check, you can go directly to the bank and ask that payment be stopped on the check. Checks do not pass hand to hand like currency the way they apparently do in China where it is payable to the bearer. Our checks are made payable to specific people and only they can cash the check unless they sign it over to someone else (Person A writes me a check. Person B cannot cash it unless I have signed the check to make it payable to person B). It is a criminal offense to try to cash/pass a check that does not belong to you.

If you know who has something that you think belongs to you, then you can file a petition for declaratory judgment asking the court to declare it yours. If you have money that is not yours but you do not want to determine to whom it rightfully belongs, you can file an interpleader action turning it over to the Court to decide. Beyond that, different states have different laws about how to handle lost property that has been found. Generally, there is a waiting and/or notice process required before one can take legal ownership of found or abandoned property.
 
Uh... how about Exchange Bills and Promissory Notes? ...those “negotiable” instruments?

Is a check a negotiable instrument? ...I am confused about these notions...
 
Uh... how about Exchange Bills and Promissory Notes? ...those “negotiable” instruments?

Is a check a negotiable instrument? ...I am confused about these notions...

Checks are technically considered Bills of Exchange but the financial system in the US is set up so that people do not generally make documents out to any bearer and it requires the endorsement of the payee to transfer to a third party. formal Bills of Exchange are only really used in international transactions reaching outside the US. Promissory notes may or may not be negotiable instrument, it just depends, but the holder of the original would still need an assignment from the original lender/payee to have a valid claim on the contract payments. While one generally needs to be able to produce the original, copies of commercial paper can be used if it can be established that the original has been lost or destroyed. In other words, I know of no practical situation where someone could lose commercial paper and the finder of the paper could obtain the legal right to payment just by virtue of finding and possessing the original due to the privity in contract in the US (Privity of contract - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). There may be ways for the person who lost the original to still obtain payment without a copy, but that would depend on the facts of the transaction, the rules of evidence in the court where a suit is filed, and case law. There are ways to recreate a contract out of multiple documents if push comes to shove but it can be difficult and expensive to do.
 
Back
Top Bottom