Be sure that funds are in your account and available to pay your bills before you mail that check, because banks are able to clear checks faster due to check 21.

Check 21 has made it easier to incur overdraft cost to do business with banks. Gone are the days when consumers could write checks and mail them, hoping that they would have the money in the bank before the checks are presented for payment, because the check clearing process was so slow. The Federal Reserve changed all this when they approved the conversion of paper checks to electronic-like items, which is known as check 21. It is part of the language you should get familiar with for the 21^st century, as shown in the following article from the Federal Reserve:

The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21) was signed into law on October 28, 2003, and became effective on October 28, 2004. Check 21 is designed to foster innovation in the payments system and to enhance its efficiency by reducing some of the legal impediments to check truncation. The law facilitates check truncation by creating a new negotiable instrument called a substitute check, which permits banks to truncate original checks, to process check information electronically, and to deliver substitute checks to banks that want to continue receiving paper checks. A substitute check is the legal equivalent of the original check and includes all the information contained on the original check. The law does not require banks to accept checks in electronic form nor does it require banks to use the new authority granted by the Act to create substitute checks.

The Federal Reserve Board has released the final rule to implement Check 21, including the model disclosure language for depository institutions to use in notifying consumers of their rights under the law

The more one reads the various commentaries and opinions of some of the nation’s economists the more one discerns a sense of confusion and perplexity as they try to explain the current U.S. economic crisis brought about by the fall out in the home-mortgage market, and its creeping effect on the global capitalist economy. It is astounding that as the standard of living of millions of Americans is threatened with a rising crisis, top economists seem at a lost. While not claiming to be in the league of the nation’s learned economist, to us the reason for the current economic problems seem rather clear.

Simply put, economics is a cause and effect system, a system led by the economic law of supply and demand. In Economics 101 we see that as the demand for a product rises, so does its price. Where that demand is inelastic, like the demand for bread, then regardless of how much the price for that product rises, the demand will remain constant. However, where the demand for the product is elastic, or fluctuates easily, when demand falls, prices also fall, or alternately if prices rise too high demand will fall.

What happened with the U.S. housing market, a fact that seems to being ignored by most economists, is that artificial means were created to spike the demand for houses. This artificial demand was based on the creation of easy and unrealistic credit. One didn’t need even a high school diploma in economics to realize that this artificial situation would not hold. Sound economics cannot be based on the artificial incentives which result in millions of borrowers, who under real circumstances could not get mortgages, receiving loans on easy, unreal terms. This resulted in an equally unreal demand for houses, pushing up their prices, and setting off a housing construction boom, especially here in South Florida. Naturally, when the real repayment rates for these mortgages matured, reality also set in. Large percentage of these borrowers defaulted, resulting in a classic economic domino effect: foreclosures, a glut of unsold houses, falling house prices, constricting of credit; less disposable income, job losses, and now the possibility of a recession.

Ten Ways to Improve Your FICO Score

When you apply for credit, your credit score helps lenders decide how likely it is that they'll get paid back on time. The most widely used credit bureau scores are developed by Fair, Isaac and Company. These are known as FICO scores. With a higher score you'll be able to qualify for better interest rates, higher credit limits, and more types of credit than you would with a low score. (See Your Credit Risk Score for more information.) There are no tricks or quick fixes to getting a good credit score, but you can raise your score over time by demonstrating that you consistently manage your credit responsibly. Here are 10 tips that can help you raise your score:

1. Pay your bills on time.

Proving that you can pay your bills on time is the best thing you can do to improve your score. And it's never too late to start. Even if you've had serious delinquencies in the past, these will count less over time.

2. Keep credit card balances low.

High outstanding debt can pull down your score.

3. Check your credit report for accuracy.

There may be inaccurate information on your credit report that can be easily cleared up. Always contact the original creditor and all three credit bureaus whenever you clear up an error, so that the inaccurate information won't reappear later. Requesting a copy of your credit report won't affect your score if you order it directly from the credit reporting agency or an authorized organization.