On 3-Mar-2006, Orval Fairbairn wrote:

A cashier's check isn't necessarily negotiable. Scammers print them up
on computers and send them out -- it may take a couple of weeks to
determine that they are bogus.


Forged cashier's checks have apparently become a big problem for sellers of
big-ticket items. The best way to protect yourself as a seller OR buyer is
to use a reputable escrow service.

That said, not every weird request by a buyer or seller for concluding a
deal is necessarily a reason to run away. When we bought our Arrow nearly
10 years ago the seller was an elderly gentleman (82 years old, still had a
valid medical -- ya gotta love it) whose wife had recently died. He wanted
us to break the agreed purchase price into 10 cashier's checks. He told us
that his intent was to cash the checks one by one over an extended period,
thus "hiding" the sale of the plane from his wife's family, with whom he was
engaged in a probate battle. Needless to say, this raised some suspicions
on our part. But we really liked the plane, it passed a pre-buy with no
significant anomalies, and a title search came back showing the seller as
the legal owner with no liens. Still nervous, we got title insurance and
bought the plane in the manner the seller requested. Other than the
inconvenience of having to get 10 cashier's checks there were no problems
for us, and the plane has been great.

-Elliott Drucker