You know of a bank that still returns checks this day and age?

Off topic, but that's one of my gripes: The check is a direction by the account-holder to his bank, and belongs to the drawer (maker, person who signs it) and in law used to have to be returned to him by the bank when it paid the check out of his account.

About two decades ago, some banks decided they would unilaterally destroy the account-holder's property instead of returning it to him. Oh, they dressed it up as an "enhancement" (maybe that's where the airlines' publicists got the idea), "We're destroying your property in your best interests so you won't have to deal with it." Wait a minute - if I want to destroy my property, I know how to do it, and it should be *my* choice, not my agent's.

Also, once destroyed how do you prove payment down the line? (I know, they say they keep a microfilm copy for "up to XX years", but how long is "up to XX years"? Like "save up to 50%" it means nothing specific; they could meet that promise by keeping the microfilm ten seconds.)

More importantly, having worked in law, I know that it essentially is destroying evidence in case of a crime. Destruction of the check itself makes it almost impossible to prove forgery, since the microfilm (which has poor resolution) won't show some of the tremors and traces a handwriting expert looks at, and totally eliminates the information about pressure, and fiber disturbance the expert looks for to see if there has been tracing, or alteration of the original. Also, by destroying the check you have destroyed the fingerprints (more importantly, in the case of a stolen check which has been illegaly cashed, it destroys the "fist" on the back where the thief endorsed the check - you catch lots of thieves that way, since endorsing a check while wearing a glove is unusual enough to be remarked on).

The most important part to me, though, is that your bank is destroying your property without your permission. Does that give you a warm and fuzzy feeling about the honesty of your bank?

Anyway, I was always able to find a bank that returned checks (it was a matter of principle to me), but last year the little country town bank (the last one I was able to find that still returned checks) wrote me that they were going to do me the great favor of destroying my property. I haven't been able to find an "honest" bank since then.

If anyone has one, please let me know.

OK, now that I've had that rant, I'll sit down and color quietly.