A post-dated check won't get you out of overdraft fees

My first indication of trouble was a flurry of overdraft fee notices from Chase. I knew the balance was low, but nowhere near zero, so I checked my recent transactions. I found that they had cashed a check that I had postdated three days early. To avoid any troubles, I send in my rent check early, but postdate the check with the date my rent is actually due.

I called them with a smug but calm demeanor of someone who knows they have proof of an injustice. But I was in for a shock. Postdating a check is meaningless, the Chase rep explained. Chase looks at it as an informal agreement between the person who writes the check and the person who cashes it. I've found similarstories online. More people are running into trouble because of Check 21, which clears checks much faster.