New York's Highest Court Allows Banks, Customers To Shorten Period For Wrongly Paid Items

Bank Compliance Retail Banking

On May 8, the New York Court of Appeals held that in certain circumstances a bank and its customer may agree to shorten the statutory time period under the state’s Uniform Commercial Code within which a customer must notify its bank of an improperly paid item in order to recover the payment. Clemente Bros. Contracting Corp. v. Hafner-Milazzo, No. 64, 2014 WL 1806924 (N.Y. May 8, 2014). The court explained that New York's version of the UCC imposes strict liability on a bank that charges against its customer's account any "item" that is not "properly payable", but bars a customer's claim for recovery on a wrongfully paid item when the customer fails to report the irregularity within one year after the bank provides the statement and item, regardless of either party's failure to exercise reasonable care. In this case, the customer’s account agreement reduced the one-year reporting period to 14 days. The court held that the parties are permitted to vary the one-year period by agreement, and that the 14-day period is not manifestly unreasonable where the customer is a “corporate entity that either is financially sophisticated or has the resources to acquire professional guidance.” The court stressed that the same would not hold true where the customer is an unsophisticated small business or individual.