Several factors come into play when considering the fairness of the court’s ruling in this case. We have to look at whether Any Kind Checks Cashed acted reasonably in accepting a negotiable item from the payee. We also have to consider why the payee used the services of a check-cashing establishment in the course of conducting his business. Also, it is important to review the provisions that should be met when an entity tries to assert a protection as a holder in due course. Was Any Kind Checks an HDC in this case? This depends on what responsibility they had in accepting the negotiable instrument from Mr. Guarino. Did they exercise due Any Kind is able to show proof of reaching out to the maker for authorization, and as such exert its claim for HDC protection with regard to the second item. The court’s ruling is fair in this case considering the rather unconventional nature of the establishment. Generally, when a check is deposited for a large sum, a traditional financial institution will not provide full access to the funds until it can ensure it will be paid on those funds from the bank the check is written on. They may provide limited access until the item clears. In contrast, by cashing the check and giving those funds to Guarino immediately (minus their fee), Any Kind can not be seen as providing “value” to the instrument. This is a key factor in determining status as an HDC. Similarly, in Maine Family Fed. Credit Union, 727 A.2d 335, a credit union provided a customer immediate access to credit on a large sum of checks which were deposited into their account. They did this without investigating if they would be paid by the drawee-bank and without holding the item for a time to allow for any irregularities or defenses to come forward. The jury in the case asserted that the credit union acted with subjective good faith, but did not exercise objective good faith in negotiating the item. While the credit union acted with what could be considered commercial standards, those standards did not result in fair dealings to all parties
