JACKSON - Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled that a Greenville woman cannot collect on forged checks cashed at her bank because she failed to timely report their discovery.
The Supreme Court reversed the decision of a Washington County jury that in 2003 awarded $29,595 to Helen K. Rogers from Union Planters Bank.
The justices ruled for the bank because "Rogers failed to inspect her bank statements in a timely manner and … produced no evidence that Union Planters had failed to exercise ordinary care or … acted with bad faith in paying the checks."
According to court documents, a woman named Jackie Reese was hired to take care of Rogers bedridden husband. Authorities said Reese in 2000 forged Helen Rogers' name on checks on four bank accounts.
After her husband died, Rogers and her son discovered that some bank statements were missing and that there was less money in the accounts than they thought.
In June 2001, they asked Union Planters for copies of the missing bank statements. In September 2001, they were advised by Union Planters to contact the police due to forgeries made on her accounts.
On appeal, Union Planters argued that Rogers' delay in detecting the forgeries barred her from suing the bank.
Presiding Justice Bill Waller Jr., writing Thursday for the court, said Mississippi law puts the burden on a bank customer to detect unauthorized transactions on an account.
"Since there was a series of forged checks, it is reasonable to assume that Reese intercepted the bank statements before Rogers could inspect them. However, Union Planters cannot be held liable for Reese's fraudulent concealment," Waller said.
He said Union Planters followed state law by mailing out the account statements. "The customers duty to inspect and report does not arise when the statement is received, as Rogers claims; the customers duty to inspect and report arises when the bank sends the statement to the customers address.
"A reasonable person who has not received a monthly statement from the bank would promptly ask the bank for a copy of the statement. Here, Rogers claims that she did not receive numerous statements. We find that she failed to act reasonably when she failed to take any action to replace the missing statements," Waller wrote.
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