Here’s something the bad guys know that you should know, too. When you stop payment on a check with your bank, it’s good for only six months.

After that, the check can be cashed unless you ask that the stop-payment order be extended.

Every state has its own law, but most are the same. [To find your state's law go to a search engine and type in, for example, "stop payment checks law in Connecticut."]

Listen to this sad tale.

Pat and Gayla Lavery had no idea of the law in their home state of Texas, and they got burned twice: once by the apparent scammer who took their $1,350 check for a vending machine he never delivered, and again, they believe, by Washington Mutual, which cashed the check six months and six days after the stop-payment order was placed. Chase Bank, which acquired WaMu last fall, won’t help the Watauga, Texas couple recover their money.

As Dave Lieber first reported in the Nov. 13 Watchdog column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Laverys said they thought that when they paid $32 to their bank, Chase, for the stop payment in August 2008, the vending machine salesman would never see the money.

Turns out that Texas law is clear: A stop payment is good for six months, and extensions must be requested by the customer and granted by the bank.

It started when Pat Lavery saw an advertisement for a vending machine on Craigslist. Lavery visited Sam Beck, the owner of Discount Vending in Dallas. Beck, Gayla Lavery says, wanted $1,350 and promised that once the check cleared, he would deliver the machine.

But when Beck made a special point of asking which bank the check was written on, Gayla Lavery got suspicious.

“I had a bad feeling about this guy from the start,” she said, “but my husband said, ‘We’ll give him the check and then go home and look him up on the Internet and we can always stop payment on the check.’?”

That night, the couple found that the Better Business Bureau had given Beck’s company an F rating, mostly for not responding to complaints.

“There were complaints about him everywhere,” she said. “I was afraid he was going to be at my bank when it opened so I went online that night and put a stop payment on the check. The bank charged me $32, but I figured it was better than losing $1,350.”

They called Beck, told him what they had done and promised to pay cash upon delivery. He said he would deliver the machine, but they never saw him again.

Six months and six days later, Beck walked into a Washington Mutual branch and cashed the check. Part of the payout came from their checking account, and when that hit zero, the rest came from overdraft protection.

The check is endorsed by Sam Beck. (The Watchdog could not reach Beck.)

The couple visited Chase. “They pulled out this big book of policies and showed me all the disclaimers to cover themselves for this,” Gayla Lavery said. “There was no disclaimer when I did the stop payment online but apparently being ethical doesn’t matter to large companies like Chase.”

She says she sent a certified letter to one of Chase’s top executives in Texas but got no response.

The Watchdog contacted Chase. Spokesman Greg Hassell shared the bank’s policy:

“For personal accounts, a stop payment is good for 180 days. Customers can place an additional stop payment order at any time” for another 180 days for an additional fee.

All Texas banks are supposed to follow the same policy. Texas law states: “A stop-payment order is effective for six months … [and may be] renewed for additional six-month periods.”

The Chase spokesman says customers are notified in person and online of the law and bank policy. He forwarded me the language used online to inform customers, but I couldn’t find any wording that warned consumers about the 180-day rule. I did find it in another area of Chase’s Web site under “Account Rules and Regulations.”

According to the Texas Department of Banking, banks don’t have to cash a check presented more than six months after it’s written — but they’re not prohibited, either.

“While the bank is not obligated to pay the check, no law states that Chase couldn’t accept the stale-dated check and pay it as written after the stop payment expired,” department spokesman Phil Lena said.

So the ultimate decision rests with the bank, and it could go either way.

The best way to solve the problem is to close the checking account. Then no more extensions need to be granted, said Shannon Phillips Jr., deputy general counsel of the Independent Bankers Association of Texas.

Before cashing a check after six months, some banks may flag an account with a hold and check with the customer. But others don’t, he said.

Phillips suggests the Laverys consider a lawsuit against Chase. “Chase is the 800-pound gorilla in this thing. If they want to take them to small-claims court, they are the consumers. Juries are usually a little more sympathetic to a consumer. This is the kind of thing that small-claims courts were established for.”

It’s a long shot because state law is clear.

Another alternative: search for a bank that is understanding and flexible with its customers.

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Watchdog Nation tips

Check online for background information on the seller before making a purchase.

Don’t pay for items until they are delivered. Never pay cash.

Be wary of advertisements. Verify everything.

To read your state law on stop payments, search online for your state’s banking and banking laws.