Issue Payments to non-member company that won't accept checks

[kentduke]

We have a landlord agency that won't accept checks. They obviously don't have a member account. How can we do an EFT to them?

[waltbristow]

In the US, you can't. Or at least I don't think you can.

The Church is working on it. I'm told it is with the IT folks.

[russellhltn]

At this point I think the only option is to have a member pay and then reimburse the member.

But I suggest you check with your stake. Your stake can check with the priesthood authority above them.

[waltbristow]

My experience is that many businesses (and landlords) say they won't take checks. What they really mean is that they won't take checks from tenants. They don't like bad checks.

However, when they are told that a church is writing the check, they are willing to make an exception to their normal rule. Yes, that takes a little effort. However, payment to the vendor or provider of services is how the Church says it should be done.

Having a member pay and then reimbursing that member is contrary to Church policy. If you can avoid it, avoid it. If you can't, do what it takes to help the member. (However, don't be surprised, if you do it often, that you might find a comment or two from an auditor.)

[russellhltn]

Going with what waltbristow said,

General Handbook 225.5.3:

If possible, payments should be made directly to the businesses that provide goods and services. Payments are not typically made to the person being assisted.

One could question if handing a member a check made out to the landlord fulfills this or not. in other words how "direct" should it be? Or can the member being assisted be the "messenger"?


It may be worth pointing out 22.4.3:

If possible, the bishop should avoid giving cash. Instead, he should use fast offerings or bishops’ orders to provide members with groceries or services. Members can then use their own money to pay for other needs.

I've never tried it, but I'd imagine that "storehouse food" would be a motivation to improve one's situation in a way that paying the rent does not.

[BrianEdwards]

I'd say about 50 percent of the time I was told by a member that their landlord wouldn't accept checks, after meeting personally with the landlord and showing them an example Church check, they acquiesced. The biggest issue we had in our inner-city unit, was private landlords without bank accounts (so EFT's wouldn't help), and whose entire life was cash-only. So for another 25 percent of the cases, after reviewing the member's finances, it was determined that if the Church perhaps paid for a utility or two (in addition to the Storehouse items which were always included), the member could then make the housing payment themselves. But there were definitely situations where we had to have a different member make the rent payment and then we reimbursed the member. Clear documentation and explanation always made the inevitable auditor questions easy to answer.