12 U.S.C. § 5003

General provisions governing substitute checks

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(a) No agreement required

A person may deposit, present, or send for collection or return a substitute check without an agreement with the recipient, so long as a bank has made the warranties in section 5004 of this title with respect to such substitute check.

(b) Legal equivalenceA substitute check shall be the legal equivalent of the original check for all purposes, including any provision of any Federal or State law, and for all persons if the substitute check—(1) accurately represents all of the information on the front and back of the original check as of the time the original check was truncated; and(2) bears the legend: “This is a legal copy of your check. You can use it the same way you would use the original check.”(c) Endorsements

A bank shall ensure that the substitute check for which the bank is the reconverting bank bears all endorsements applied by parties that previously handled the check (whether in electronic form or in the form of the original paper check or a substitute check) for forward collection or return.

(d) Identification of reconverting bank

A bank shall identify itself as a reconverting bank on any substitute check for which the bank is a reconverting bank so as to preserve any previous reconverting bank identifications in conformance with generally applicable industry standards.

(e) Applicable law

A substitute check that is the legal equivalent of the original check under subsection (b) shall be subject to any provision, including any provision relating to the protection of customers, of part 229 of title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the Uniform Commercial Code, and any other applicable Federal or State law as if such substitute check were the original check, to the extent such provision of law is not inconsistent with this chapter.

(Pub. L. 108–100, § 4, Oct. 28, 2003, 117 Stat. 1180.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsec. (e), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 108–100, Oct. 28, 2003, 117 Stat. 1177, which is classified generally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 5001 of this title and Tables.

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date

Section effective at the end of the 12-month period beginning on Oct. 28, 2003, see section 20 of Pub. L. 108–100, set out as a note under section 5001 of this title.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 9 cases (6 in the last 5 years), 2013–2025 · leading case: Speedy Check Cashers, Inc. v. U.S. Postal Serv.

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Speedy Check Cashers, Inc. v. U.S. Postal Serv. (2017) illinoised “12 U.S.C. § 5003 (b). To protect other parties, a bank that transfers or presents a substitute check for consideration "warrants, as a matter of law, to the transferee, any subsequent collecting or returning bank, the depositary bank, the drawee, the drawer, the payee, the…”

Meisel, Rodney v. U.S. Bank, N.A. (2013) texapp “…the original check as of the time the original check was truncated and contains the language quoted in the text. See 12 U.S.C.A. § 5003 (b).”

Robert J. Triffin v. Hmp, LLC (2023) njsuperctappdiv · cites it 5× “Instead, plaintiff asserted the copy of the check admitted as evidence during the trial violated 12 U.S.C. § 5003 (b). On May 13, 2022, the judge heard argument on HMP's sanction motion.”

Robert J. Triffin v. 3 Gigioni, Inc. (2023) njsuperctappdiv · cites it 4× “At trial, plaintiff objected to the admission of defendants' copy of the check and to testimony about it, citing 12 U.S.C. § 5003 (b)(1) and (2). Plaintiff's copy of the back of the check has a printed date of May 24, 2019, and stamps stating "For deposit only to Friendly CC…”

Robert J. Triffin v. Jumpinjax Kids Corp. (2023) njsuperctappdiv · cites it 3× “Plaintiff believes that because JumpinJax has neither its original paid check, nor a substitute check meeting the requirements of 12 U.S.C. § 5003 (b), it cannot prove that it paid the dishonored check plaintiff seeks to enforce.”

Robert J. Triffin v. One Nj Neptune 230 Management LLC (2023) njsuperctappdiv · cites it 3× “1002 or the Check Clearing Act, 12 U.S.C. § 5003 , to demonstrate it "previously paid the two dishonored checks," is without merit.”

Robert J. Triffin v. Pino's Pizzeria & Restaurant (2023) njsuperctappdiv “" Conversely, he contends, under the Supremacy Clause in the United States Constitution, the motion judge did not have the authority to disregard or substitute redacted bank records for the legal legend requirement in 12 U.S.C. § 5003 . We conclude plaintiff's contentions lack…”

United Services Automobile Association v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (2019) txed “” 12 U.S.C. § 5003 (b). The requirements of a substitute check are precisely defined.”

Luste v. U.S. Bank National Association (2025) nvd “54 confers a private right of action against a bank 2 if it fails to comply with the regulation’s requirements, Luste has not sufficiently shown that he 3 is likely to succeed on the merits of his claim.”

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