Slashdot Mirror
Is Cash No Longer Legal Tender?
An anonymous reader asks: "I attend the University of Illinois at Chicago. Last semester my housing arrangements went smoothly. I put down my application fee, and my deposit just fine, got a room for the semester and life went on. This semester, because there was supposedly a large number of students who did not check into their rooms last semester, we were required to make a $100 prepayment, in addition to the application fee and deposit. No problem, I think, I see the university is trying to make a quick buck off people who don't follow through with their plans. Now I do NOT have a checking account, a credit card, or anything. I don't trust the banks, or the credit card companies, so I am one of the few people who do EVERYTHING in cash. However, they refused to take the cash. Is it legal for a state-owned university, let alone any business to not take legal tender?"
The housing department also will not charge my university account (so I can pay the bursar or whoever I need to) in cash, and they want a check or money order. Nowhere in their letter did they say that. I fear out of technicality I am going to loose my housing since I cannot get them their money on time because they do not take cash.
What can I do?"
What can I do?"
My understanding of the issue, although I do not specialize in this kind of law, is that your cash must be accepted for everything for which the good or service has already been provided; they are not required to accept it when you are making a payment for something you are to receive in the future.
"It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Peak Performance
The post office charges the following amounts for postal money orders:
$0.01 to $500.00 - $1.05
$500.01 to $1,000.00 - 1.50
which I'm sure can fit into anyone's budget. Although I guess if a person doesn't trust banks then why entrust your money to the government or quasi-government agencies.
For some reason, this guy doesn't trust banks and does everything in cash. What makes you think he's gonna trust the post office and all their new-fangled machines that do their witchery?
I'm just saying...
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
It's possible that the real reason he uses cash is because he doesn't like being tracked.
Cow Cube
I have never been able to get an answer. Why won't people just accept cash? Isn't all money the same?
Most of the time it boils down to liability and proof of identity. Let's say I rent a lawnmower for the day for $5. It's picked up an never returned.
Let's say I rent an apartment, dorm room, hotel room and get no ID. After a week stay I find they had 500 cats and no litterbox and didn't use an ashtray so there are burn marks on the counter in the bathroom. They pack up and leave me the mess.
With a credit card, I have ID and can persue a collection action and ding the credit report. I'm much more likely to have a good rental experiance.
If you stop in the grocery store and pick up a 10 lb sack of potatos, cash is fine.
Why won't people just accept cash? Isn't all money the same?
I feel your pain. I was in the same boat when I was in the military. I took vacation and went to Hawaii. No amount of money would rent a car. It was a credit card or nothing. I toured the island by city bus. I missed going out to a few places and spent way too much time in the hotel bar. It's like being grounded while on vacation. Their failue to provide transportation saved me a lot of money I would have spent on entertainment.
What I learned is a credit card is a type of finance ID. When done with the rental, most of the time you can pay cash. The card is the best way to telephone shop. Getting flowers to a wedding or funeral is easy. For a long time I had just one card and it got used about twice a year for several years.
The truth shall set you free!
You're only venturing into fraud / theft of services / obtaining by deception territory if a court of law decides that you had no intention to pay. You turning up at the office with actual banknotes demonstrates an intention to pay. If they refuse a reasonable offer of payment, they may well (inadvertently) be agreeing to give you something for free.
It's a bit like the case of the student who got a wealthy lawyer to sponsor his university education in law, on the basis that he would hand over the entire proceeds of his first case by way of complete and final recompense. Immediately upon receiving his degree, he signed on the dole and made no attempt to get a job as even a minor partner in a law firm. His sponsor took him to court for breach of contract; the graduate represented himself. Either his sponsor's payoff would amount to nothing (because he had lost his first case); or the decision of the court would be that he didn't have to pay his sponsor anything (if he won the case).
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
Credit cards? I don't have or need one. I essentially never carry more than 20$CDN in my pockets, which I keep for small purchases, taxi runs, etc; and use my debit card for everything. But then I live in Canada. We don't really use checks anymore either.
If he explores all forms and substances Straight homeward to their symbol-essences; He shall not die.
Actually, yes, in many cases you DO have to do direct deposit. My job will not print me an actual check, because they've outsourced their payroll. We don't even get physical paystubs anymore.
Christianity has proscriptions against usury, but no problem with investing and trade; see the parable of the master and three servants.
Islam has some requirements, but there are Sharia-compatible banks and mortgages and what not. They're actually getting pretty popular amoung non-Moslems in North America as well.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
Funny story, but in the US, if you try to pay a bill 'postage due' as we call it on this side of the pond, the creditor can refuse to pay the postage, and the letter gets returned to you, which means your bill is now late, and your credit rating gets damaged. Protecting your credit is worth a $.41 stamp.
I'll have no part of that for a few reasons:
- I live in the city. All the even close to affordable houses are well outside what I consider a reasonable commuting range.
- It's just plain cheaper to rent. Sure, I'm not storing up equity, but really neither are a lot of people on subprime mortgages. At least the money I'm saving is being put into investments.
- I predict that once the baby boomers get a decade into retirement (with no kids in the house and failing health) a lot of them are going to start moving out of houses; many of them will be moving into "assisted living" centers. Houses in areas near good schools are going to get a LOT cheaper in the next ten years. At that time, I'll reevaluate whether owning a home is a good thing or not, but unless you can solidly plan to put down roots for the next 30 years where you are right now, owning a home might be an unwise investment.
Leasing is silly if your end goal is to own.So? What makes owning such a great goal to have in the first place? If your privacy or your paranoia is so important to you that you'd go through life without a bank account, then going without owning the house you live in isn't so bad in comparison.
Frankly, I'm paying about 1/2 to 2/3 what I'd pay for a mortgage on a home or condo in my area. My insurance is significantly cheaper, and I wouldn't have enough deductions to qualify for a tax break anyway.
Consider this wise or unwise as you wish, but I was able to live for half a year without a paycheck to go volunteer in the local election last year, and I had no fear of losing a place to live. I know that I'm fortunate to be in a very high income bracket due to my choice of careers, but I could get by comfortably with a third of my income because I live below my means.
Home ownership is overrated, if you ask me.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
I love your spirit. Mostly would not work here in Canada,
;).
Mostly regarding postages. They just bounce it back to you no questions asked. The only "trick" is to mark the return address as the destination. But it is a fraud to do so.
>> they aren't going to chase anybody up for a lousy quid fifty;
Many of my services (phone, electricity) charges a 5$ fee for any "late payment". I learned this by a "$5.12" added to my bill one month. It was all my fault.
I got a cheque from my provincial government for 34 cents once. At the time it cost 42 cents to send an envelope, but they surely have bulk rates
In today's all computerized accounts, they don't care if you own them 50 cents or 10 dollars. When payment is due a bill is automatically printed and sent.
Even if you cut the payment by one cent, it will simply be added to your next bill.
For one shot providers, they can send notice to credit-bureaus. It does not say "This smart-ass customer did not pay 1 cent" it rather say:
"2005/03/12 - insufficient fund payment"
"2005/04/12 - no payment received"
"2005/05/12 - no payment received"
"2005/06/12 - no payment received - sent to recovery agency"
What I do is the reverse, I OVER-PAY by a few cents or a dollar. They will then study the record, print a check and post it, often with a nice letter. Most business hates it when they own money to customers.
Credit cards are funny for that, if the due amount is different than zero they print and send an envelope. When I get pissed of at one, I will overpay by 1 cent, and keep laughing once a month when I receive the "due amount: (0.01) credit DO NOT PAY".
My argument was that income is only taxable if you have one. The multi-millionaire Wesley Snipes has an income.
Is there a single person with no income who has had to pay income tax on it?