I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4415 
To establish a fair order of posting checks and deposits to prevent unjust 
enrichment of financial institutions from fees that accrue only by virtue 
of the order used by the institution for posting checks and deposits, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 18, 2005 
Mr. MEEK of Florida (for himself and Mr. RYAN of Ohio) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To establish a fair order of posting checks and deposits 
to prevent unjust enrichment of financial institutions 
from fees that accrue only by virtue of the order used 
by the institution for posting checks and deposits, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Consumer Checking 
Fairness Act’’.
SEC. 2. FAIR ORDER FOR POSTING CHECKS. 
(a) ORDER OF CHECKS POSTED.—Section 607 of the 
Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 U.S.C. 4006) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(f) NUMERICAL ORDER OF POSTING CHECKS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 
in the process of posting checks presented for pay-
ment against a checking account used primarily for 
personal, family, or household purposes after the 
close of any business day, the checks shall be posted 
by a depository institution against the account in the 
numerical order of the checks, beginning with the 
lowest number. 
‘‘(2) NOTICE
AND
CUSTOMER
CONSENT
FOR 
DIFFERENT POSTING ORDER.—A depository institu-
tion may alter the order required under paragraph 
(1) for posting checks against a checking account 
used primarily for personal, family, or household 
purposes only if— 
‘‘(A) specific notice of the alternate posting 
order is given by the depository institution to 
the prospective accountholder verbally and in 
writing before the account is opened (using a 
document that is separate from the account ap-
plication and any other document provided to
the prospective accountholder in the process of 
opening the account) which fully describes the 
posting process and explains in clear and easy- 
to-understand 
language 
the 
possible 
con-
sequences to the accountholder of the alternate 
posting order; and 
‘‘(B) the depository institution obtains 
from the accountholder, and retains in its 
records, a written acknowledgement of the re-
ceipt by the accountholder of the notice re-
quired under subparagraph (A) and the written 
consent of the accountholder for the use of the 
alternate posting order.’’. 
(b) CREDITS REQUIRED TO BE POSTED BEFORE 
DEBITS.—Section 607 of the Expedited Funds Avail-
ability Act (12 U.S.C. 4006) is amended by inserting after 
subsection (f) (as added by subsection (a) of this section) 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(g) ORDER OF POSTING DEBITS AND CREDITS.— 
In the process of posting credits and debits against a 
checking account used primarily for personal, family, or 
household purposes after the close of any business day, 
all deposits shall be credited by a depository institution 
to the account before debiting any check drawn on the 
account and presented for payment.’’.
(c) REGULATIONS.—The Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System shall— 
(1) prescribe such regulations as may be nec-
essary to implement the amendments made by sub-
section (a) and (b); and 
(2) publish such regulations in final form before 
the end of the 180-day period beginning on the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ