14. Defective the usual work of the credit and collection departments, it happens now and then that a letter is received which is said to con tain a check, when, as a matter of fact, no check is inclosed. 'While such omission may be merely an oversight, it may be—indeed it frequently is—an at tempt on the part of the debtor to gain time. A practical way of dealing with such a case, if it is sus pected that the check was intentionally left out, is to make a draft on the debtor thru the bank, advising him at the same time in a courteous manner that, in asmuch as the absence of the check was evidently caused by an oversight, this step was taken in order to rectify the mistake. The debtor cannot very well, under the circumstances, refuse to honor such a draft when the bank presents it for payment.
Another device occasionally resorted to by a debtor in an effort to gain time, is to send an unsigned check or a check made out to the order of the debtor but not indorsed by him to the creditor. In the former case, the check should at once be deposited in the bank, the amount being guaranteed over the creditor's signa ture. The debtor should be informed of the step
taken, and a suggestion should be made that he affix his signature to the check when this in due time is presented by his bank. In the latter case, where in dorsement to the creditor of a check made out to the debtor is omitted, it is permissible to supply the miss ing indorsement over the creditor's signature and de posit the check in the usual way. The debtor's let ter which accompanied the check, and in which he an nounced the inclosure of check for a certain amount, should be carefully preserved as constituting the cred itor's authority for taking the step.
So, also, whenever a check offered in payment is improperly made out, the correct amount should be written on the back of the check and guaranteed cor rect over the creditor's signature; after which the check may be deposited and the remitter may be promptly notified.