Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Airplanes Only Airplane Buyer Scam - Feb 2024

To make a deposit at the bank you must have an account, and a S.S. number or TIN was required to open the account. They already had your number.

My understanding that the $10,000 cash reporting limit was set in the 1970's for various crime reasons, and it never has been raised. 10k in the 70's was worth a lot more than 10k in 2024

Once money is seized, it is VERY HARD to get the USG to give it back.

We had a guy in the Army who was, for some reason, moving across country and instead of electronically switching banks - decided to travel with $26K in cash.

I do not know why but he got pulled over and the cash was seized as the state troopers assumed he was up to no good. The man was NOT arrested and was not charged with any crimes.

It took a lawsuit and 10 months of a hired lawyer to wrest the $$$ back to him. He did get it all back, but no interest and had to eat the lawyer fees per-hour + the massive inconvenience and anxiety of having all his money tied-up. This is shocking to me. Seems like a bit of "over-governance" but that's just me. That being said, I am a fan of our thin-blue-line and appreciate all they do to keep us safe. This was definitely an isolated incident.

Lesson for me: I have the right to carry large amounts of cash, but it comes with a modicum of risk.

If the money was seized by some sheriff deputies in a dinky little county, it'd be a long road to get the money back.

That's exactly what I would have said too!!! LOL!

C'mon, that is a LOT of dance coupons! 26,000! HMPHF!

55F is in the AOPA recommended escrow service. We will have to see how it goes. A new experience for me, but the buyer has wired them the funds already.

We used an escrow service (Aerospace Reports) when my partner and I sold our C172. Very professional with excellent communication. I would highly recommend them. They do a full title search, handle all the financial escrow through wired funds and electronically file all FAA paperwork. They issue a very complete closing statement and will not disperse funds until all parties sign off of the pre buy inspection etc.

In general, that's not the case. As the Federal Reserve states:


For example, many convenience stores and gas stations have signs saying they'll not accept $50 or $100 bills due to counterfeiting. They're free to do that. If a business wants to only accept chickens in payment, they can do that, too. They may not stay in business long (unless most of their customers are chicken farmers).

That being said, there may be local laws that say otherwise (hence the last part of the US Fed quote that I italicized). In 2020, New York City passed a law that said businesses must accept cash. This was in response to a number of places (primarily restaurants, coffee shops, small grocers, etc.) that were going cashless - only credit cards or smartphone apps would be accepted for payment. The non-cash system was considered discriminatory against people who didn't have credit cards, couldn't get them, and/or didn't want them. The law does say the business does not have to accept bills over $20, and if they refuse to transact in cash they have to provide a free means to convert cash to a smart card.

It's called "Civil Asset Forfeiture" and it has become very controversial. In general, the government (i.e. - local/state police, FBI) can immediately seize assets from suspected illegal activity (typically drugs). For example, if a person is seen leaving a drug-lord's hideout with a duffel bag full of cash, they can seize the money to help stop the illegal activity. In that regard it has been very successful.

The kicker is this - the person carrying the cash doesn't have to break any laws to have the money seized. Just the suspicion is sufficient. And, once the money is seized, the owner has to prove the money was 'innocent' before getting it back. People have the protection of 'innocent until proven guilty', but property (i.e. - cash) does not.

Because of this, some unscrupulous police have taken to seizing any large quantities of cash found in ordinary traffic stops on the belief that anyone carrying that much cash is up to no good in some way. And, if uncontested, they get to keep the cash, thus providing a great incentive to continue the behavior.