Staying out of ChexSystems
ChexSystems has a front organization called Consumer Debit Resource, which claims to offer helpful advice to people about staying out of the ChexSystems "list." This organization provides educational programs to teach people basic skills about handling bank accounts and managing their checkbooks. For the most part, it's very simplistic advice that is not of much use. People on ChexSystems are not stupid people, most of them know how to do basic math, and don't need this type of insulting hand-holding.
However, there are a few good things to know:
One very common way of getting on the list is forgetting to stop automatic debits after you close a bank account. If you switch banks for example, make sure all automatic payments are stopped or switched over. If one of those automatic debits hits the day after you close your account--you guessed it, you're on the list.
Also, there is a relatively recent piece of legislation called "Check 21." This allows banks to clear checks between themselves electronically, which means they save money by not having to physically ship paper checks to one another. As a result, checks, even out of town checks, can clear in a matter of hours when before it could have taken days. If you think you have a little "float," you're wrong. Writing a check in the morning and putting money in the bank at noon could still send you to the notorious black hole of banking called ChexSystems.
A curious twist of "Check 21" is that although banks can clear the checks you write immediately, and usually do so, they are under no legal obligation to clear the checks you deposit, even though they can clear these funds immediately as well. If you deposit a check, the bank can get your funds immediately, but they don't have to credit your account immediately. Make sure you have a very clear understanding of check holding policies.
And as always, if you do wind up on the list, remember that there are banks that do not use ChexSystems.
