1. What does this case teach you about the importance of the terms and handbook that banks give to their customers?

2. What is the effect of the 90-day notice on the Aliaga check?

Aliaga Medical Center first opened a business checking account with Harris Bank in December 2003. Upon opening the account, Aliaga acknowledged that it received the “Harris Bank Handbook for Personal and Business Deposit Accounts.” The first page of the handbook included the statement that the customer “agree[s] to the terms of this Agreement when [Aliaga] sign[s] [Harris Bank’s] account opening form or signature card, make[s] deposits or withdrawals, or leave[s] funds on deposit.”

The handbook also required that if Aliaga wanted to stop payment on a check it had written, the following requirements would apply:

If you do not want us to pay a check you have written, you can order us to stop payment. Your stop payment order must include your account number, the number and date of the check, the name of the payee, and the amount. We must receive your stop payment order before our stop payment cut-off time, which is 10 a.m. Central Time (C.T.) on the next Business Day after the check is presented to us for payment. We will accept a stop payment order from any account owner regardless of who signed the check. Your stop payment order will be effective for six months. If you want the stop payment order to continue after six months, you must renew it. Under the agreement, Harris Bank specifically “reserve[d] [its] right to pay * * * a stale check.”

The agreement contained a number of other relevant notification provisions, including notice provisions that required customers to notify the Bank of any issues or problems with its account within 60 days of receiving a statement and that suit must be filed within one year of receiving the statement.

On July 10, 2010, Dr. Federico Aliaga, the plaintiff’s president, issued a check in the amount of $50,000 (the check), payable to his wife, whom he was divorcing. The face of the check included the statement “void after 90 days” immediately above the signature line. Harris Bank honored the check on December 30, 2010. Aliaga never placed a stop payment order on the check, and, in fact, never communicated with Harris about the check anytime between July 10, 2010, and December 30, 2010.

In January 2011, Harris Bank sent and made available to Aliaga its December 2010 checking account statement, which showed that Harris Bank had honored the check on December 30, 2010. Aliaga, however, did not notify Harris Bank of the improper check payment within the 60-day notification period delineated in the parties’ agreement. Additionally, Aliaga did not initiate this lawsuit within one year of the date Harris Bank sent or made available the December 2010 statement. Instead, Aliaga waited until October or November 2012, nearly two years after the December 2010 statement was made available, before disputing the check with Harris. Harris moved to dismiss the complaint. The trial court granted the motion, and Aliaga appealed. ………………..