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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>54315</law_id><section_number>8.4-402</section_number><catch_line>Bank&amp;#8217;s liability to customer for wrongful dishonor; time of determining insufficiency of account</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>8.4-403</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="8.4">Commercial Code &#x2014; Bank Deposits and Collections</unit><unit label="part" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="4">Relationship Between Payor Bank and Its Customer</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="a"><p><span class="prefix-number">a.</span> Except as otherwise provided in this title, a <span class="dictionary">payor bank</span> wrongfully dishonors an item if it dishonors an item that is properly payable, but a bank may dishonor an item that would create an overdraft unless it has agreed to pay the overdraft. <a id="paragraph-199404" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.4-402/#a"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="b"><p><span class="prefix-number">b.</span> A <span class="dictionary">payor bank</span> is liable to its customer for <span class="dictionary">damages</span> proximately caused by the wrongful dishonor of an item. Liability is limited to actual <span class="dictionary">damages</span> proved and may include <span class="dictionary">damages</span> for an <span class="dictionary">arrest</span> or <span class="dictionary">prosecution</span> of the customer or other consequential <span class="dictionary">damages</span>. Whether any consequential <span class="dictionary">damages</span> are proximately caused by the wrongful dishonor is a question of <span class="dictionary">fact</span> to be determined in each case. <a id="paragraph-199405" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.4-402/#b"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="c"><p><span class="prefix-number">c.</span> A <span class="dictionary">payor bank</span>&#x2019;s determination of the customer&#x2019;s account balance on which a decision to dishonor for insufficiency of available funds is based may be made at any time between the time the item is received by the <span class="dictionary">payor bank</span> and the time that the <span class="dictionary">payor bank</span> returns the item or gives notice in lieu of return, and no more than one determination need be made. If, at the election of the <span class="dictionary">payor bank</span>, a subsequent balance determination is made for the purpose of reevaluating the bank&#x2019;s decision to dishonor the item, the account balance at the time is determinative of whether a dishonor for insufficiency of available funds is wrongful. <a id="paragraph-199406" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.4-402/#c"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7; 6-71; 1964, c. 219; 1992, c. 693.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
