Default Style Register
Daycare.com Forum
Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>What Qualifies As A Fraudulent Check?
Lil_Diddle 11:57 AM 11-14-2017
So I have a DCM that is also the caretaker for her grandparents and has access to their checking account. In the last month she has written me three checks out of the grandparents account to pay for childcare and for ordering from scholastic. Her grandparents both are in different sets of dementia and I'm sure clueless to the money that is being spent from this account. I'm very uncomfortable accepting these payments because one it just feels wrong, and two if there were any disputes from their family if they found out could I get in trouble for cashing these checks.
Reply
midaycare 12:00 PM 11-14-2017
There is the possibility that she receives some sort of payment for taking care of her elderly parents. She could also be scamming them. I think your judgment of her personality is what counts here. I have dcf's I would trust with my own money, and dcf's I wouldn't lend $10 to.

If she is not trustworthy, maybe you should look into it a little further. But how you do that, I'm unsure. Maybe someone else can pipe in.
Reply
Cat Herder 12:04 PM 11-14-2017
Is she signing them in her own name? I would probably write in "Childcare, >Kids name<, week of ___" in the for section.
Reply
Lil_Diddle 12:11 PM 11-14-2017
Yes I did fill in the memo section. I do know she gets paid a monthly amount but not sure how that works. She did make the comment one day she brought her part time DCK for an extra day. I have to take grandpa to the dr so he can just pay for daycare today. The statement made me a little uncomfortable. I just want to make sure if she is scamming them, if something happens I don't get in trouble for cashing checks. The three checks to me total have been under $100. But he's been here two years and just this last month is the first time I've gotten payments from the grandparents account.
Reply
boy_mom 12:15 PM 11-14-2017
I had a DCM who's parents paid for daycare. At first i was unsure, but when I asked it had been part of their arrangement - they covered her child care as part of her "benefits package" working at their family business. Maybe this is a similar arrangement?

I also agree with what a PP wrote, her character would play a big factor for me. I would definitely ask her how/why she is paying from their account. I don't know what repercussions you'd have in the future if she is writing fraudulent checks. Maybe call your local bank and see if they have insight?
Reply
TheMisplacedMidwestMom 12:23 PM 11-14-2017
Who's name is she signing would be a big indicator. If it's her own name then she has the power to write checks from the account. If they have dementia she may have power of attorney and be handling finances, even if she does it poorly it's legal. If she's signing a name other than her own, it is fraud. So unless grandma is writing them out to you herself I would not take them if dcm's name wasn't on the signature line.
Reply
Blackcat31 12:37 PM 11-14-2017
Originally Posted by TheMisplacedMidwestMom:
Who's name is she signing would be a big indicator. If it's her own name then she has the power to write checks from the account. If they have dementia she may have power of attorney and be handling finances, even if she does it poorly it's legal. If she's signing a name other than her own, it is fraud. So unless grandma is writing them out to you herself I would not take them if dcm's name wasn't on the signature line.
Just because she has power of attorney doesn't mean she can legally issue checks for HER child care expenses.

My DH is the power of attorney/executor for his father but he can in no way spend his father's money on personal things not approved or directly related to his father's estate.

I'd handle it by requesting the DCM pay me in an alternate form. Even if that means she goes to the bank and cashes the check herself from her grandparents account and brings cash. That way, it leaves you (OP) out if it completely.
Reply
Snowmom 12:41 PM 11-14-2017
Since it makes you uncomfortable, I would address it with her.

"Sally, I need to talk to you about payments. Going forward, I need to have your form of payment be in your name. Just like a retailer would ask for ID, I need to make sure the check name matches my business client's name for liability reasons."

If she says something to the effect of "oh, it's ok, I have permission.", then I'd still reiterate what you need. If she wants to have Grandma/Grandpa pay, then they need to be the one who contracts with you.
Reply
MyAngels 07:20 PM 11-14-2017
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Just because she has power of attorney doesn't mean she can legally issue checks for HER child care expenses.

My DH is the power of attorney/executor for his father but he can in no way spend his father's money on personal things not approved or directly related to his father's estate.

I'd handle it by requesting the DCM pay me in an alternate form. Even if that means she goes to the bank and cashes the check herself from her grandparents account and brings cash. That way, it leaves you (OP) out if it completely.
This is how I'd handle it too. I've had grandparents pay me a few times, but the checks were given to me by the grandparents themselves.
Reply
DaveA 03:33 AM 11-15-2017
I would go BS's and Snowmom's route with DCM. That raises some red flags with me.
Reply
Mom2Two 01:25 PM 11-15-2017
DH is the legal guardian (personal well being) and conservator (personal finances) for his mother.

In our state, both of these require detailed annual reports, which are submitted to the courts and to all "interested parties" like DH's brothers. For the conservator one, we have to report the balances of each of her personal accounts, all asset profit and loss, and also on the conservator accounts.

There's no way the courts (or BILs) would be okay seeing money spent on daycare. The law does allow my husband to charge for time he spends, but really we haven't done that except for this year when we've had to spend a lot of time managing/doing work on her rental property.

The grandparents would need to have that money available to them for needs and possible problems that come up. Elder abuse is a thing too. Spending elder's money on personal items is a form of fraud.

And the reason DH ended up as guardian/conservator is because one of his brothers took advantage of MIL and cleaned her out of all her retirement $. And our future inheritance.
Reply
Tags:bounced check, checks, fraudulent check
Reply Up