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?"
Mod parent up. This is exactly the reason why I have a credit card with a low spending limit that I hardly ever use. It's in fact my oldest credit card. And if the GP is interested in buying a house, good luck paying all cash in, especially if you live on either coast or near a big city. And if you don't have a good credit history (or any credit history for that matter), expect to get a higher interest rate on your mortgage than your neighbor who does have a credit history.