Fifth Third Bank v. Jones

Monay Jones (defendant) executed a promissory note secured by her home, later held by Fifth Third Bank (plaintiff). After Jones defaulted, Fifth Third received a check from a third party as payoff, logged it internally as a payoff, but then lost the check before posting it to Jones's account. Fifth Third sued to foreclose, arguing it hadn't actually accepted the check as payment since internal processing was still pending when the check was lost. A bank employee testified the check must have been a cashier's or certified check, since the bank wouldn't have logged a personal check as a payoff without a different notation, and the trial court found the check had likely been certified funds for the full payoff amount. The trial court ruled for Jones, and Fifth Third appealed.