Voice/Fax Checks

[Jim Hart]

> At 09:19 AM 7/20/94 UTC, j.hastings6 at genie.geis.com wrote:
> 
> >"Attention Businesses...Accept Personal and Business Checks Over The
> >Telephone (or by fax) for Your Orders, Payments, Collections and
> >Donations!"

Dunan Frissell elaborates: 
> "Don't bother.  Take out the check you were going to send me, read me the
> routing code and check number on the bottom.  Give me your name and address
> and the bank's name and address as they appear on the check, the amount you
> will pay and the date.  I'll collect that check electronically without you
> having to bother to send it."

Isn't this kind of like writing them a blank check?  If I tell
them to make the check out for $20 and they make it out for
$100, how do I repudiate that?  Not only that, how do I prevent
them from writing and cashing more checks by increasing the
sequence number?

On the flip side, what happens if I make out a check for $100
and later claim it was only $20, accusing them of cheating?
How does the judge determine who cheated?

Since the check doesn't contain my signature, why does
the bank honor the check?

Jim Hart
hart at chaos.bsu.edu