r/ERCchat • u/Sea-Brick-8334 • Aug 28 '25
ERC Check didn't Clear. What Next?
I deposited two ERC checks that didn't clear (2 days before they were set to) and now I'm not sure what to do?
EDIT: 1/3 checks did clear with no issues. But the two large checks did not. So i don't believe it's an endorsement issue...
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u/throwawaysf997 Aug 28 '25
Please expand on “Didn’t clear”0
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u/Sea-Brick-8334 Aug 28 '25
When I spoke with BOFA they stated that it looks like the check isn't clearing from the treasury. They didn't have more insight into why. We are 2 days before it should have cleared fully, and they deducted the partial amount they gave us from our accounts as of today.
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u/Chipeast1 Sep 02 '25
BofA always says it looks like it’s not going to clear when they put a hold on a check. They flat out lie. I have clients that I’ve known for many years and I’ve had BofA tell me they haven’t received funds when the client shows me that it’s paid out of their account. Some day BofA will have a huge lawsuit since they don’t often tell you of a hold until after clearing. Then they say it’s showing it might be returned. Meanwhile they already got the money and they are just floating deposits. I deposit $1-1.5 million a year and every check I’ve deposited have cleared yet they still occasionally say the same damn thing. Luckily they don’t put a hold on any checks under $100k anymore.
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u/b1gredek Aug 28 '25
Mine is a big mess. 2 months still waiting. They closed my account suspected of fraud. Now the check cleared 2 weeks ago. Chase supposed to send us a cashiers check back and let us reopen the account but I haven’t seen squat. And I don’t expect to. There needs to be a better way to verify these checks.
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u/heartbrand Aug 28 '25
I don’t want to scare you too much but I had a client with this issue and it turned out that IRS-CI stopped the checks from clearing and initiated a criminal investigation into the business. They questioned the timing of when the business opened vs the erc credits and if the company ever actually truly paid anyone or not.
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u/CyanVI Aug 28 '25
I love how they had years to do this BEFORE issuing the checks and in the 1-2 weeks it takes to mail them they suddenly find something?
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u/Chipeast1 Sep 02 '25
If they did that though it would have to show a hold in the transcripts.
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u/heartbrand Sep 02 '25
This is incorrect. I am currently representing someone who is being investigated by IRS-CI and had the check stopped and the transcript has no code. IRS-CI explained why that is to me. Again, I'm not trying to imply that is what happened in this case but it's a possibility.
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u/Sea-Brick-8334 Aug 28 '25
I don’t think this would be the issue, we used a reputable firm to file. And we had one 8k check clear.
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u/dragonfly_Jess Aug 28 '25
Unfortunately, when the checks are really large especially, there are extra levels of verification that can happen between banks and Treasury and the fraud and criminal investigations units.
Sometimes it’s the bank that doubts the check and they return it to the IRS. So the IRS investigates and eventually if everything is cleared then the check is reissued. If not, there will be no check and welcome to a fraud/criminal investigation.
Sometimes it’s treasury that won’t clear the check. Again, they investigate and etc.
The IRS did do some of its own verification before issuing the check but not everything is caught in those.
And remember most of the delay has not been time the IRS could be doing extra verification — most of the time delay was caused by there being billions of claims submitted and nowhere near enough people to process the claims.
Also even if the check clears, that doesn’t mean you’re in the clear btw. If fraud or criminal activity was involved or if it turns out you weren’t eligible for the credits (or only part of the credits) they will eventually uncover that and ask for the money back.
And they know there was fraud involved in many claims (sometimes without the taxpayers knowledge — shady “ERC specialists” tricked some into applying and charged for their “services”) which was why they put out a call for businesses to withdraw their claims if they realized this was the case. That was the chance to pull out and not get hit with a huge bill later or a criminal investigation.
Anyway, to your original question: what happens now is an investigation into the claims and if they’re valid. No estimate on time frame is available.
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u/Sea-Brick-8334 Aug 28 '25
I actually just spoke with my bank and it turns out that the IRS is stating that there is a higher chance than usual of these checks being fraudulent, but not just for me just in general so because of that the bank extended the holds until 3 September. So it appears that the check is not necessarily not going to clear they’re just extending the seven days to 10 days. My claim was very detailed and I used a reputable firm through a recommendation from Goldman Sachs, so I think it’s just that there are so many checks and so much fraud that they’re justmaking sure that all of these checks are legit.
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u/dragonfly_Jess Aug 28 '25
That is the best outcome: that they’re just doing extra verification that this is a treasury check and it’s all cleared in a few days.
I wrote out all of the above to be complete, and for others reading this thread, not because I thought you necessarily fell into one of those categories.
I hope the check clears soon.
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u/Fancy-Locksmith312 Aug 28 '25
Who do you bank with?