Mary Venegas was “amazed” when she finally dug through some cardboard boxes in her garden and found an envelope with $6,000 in cash inside.
The senior in Sacramento thought the money was long gone because she had lost it four years before. She was “just so happy” to find it because she lives on a fixed income and needed to pay late utility bills.
How does someone lose a lot of money in their backyard?
“I don’t know…” Venegas told CBS News Sacramento, “I’m just a 66-year-old woman who forgets things easily.” She said that she had planned to use the money to pay her taxes.
But when she went to pay the cash, Bank of America wouldn’t take it because the bills were “deteriorated,” which means they were dirty and wet from being outside for four years.
That’s what happened, and here’s what you can do if you hurt money.
A look at the government
Venegas thought she was done with her money problems when she found $6,000 in cash. That money is hers.
When the bank refused to take the mostly $100 bills, she learned that her deposit might have had to be carefully checked by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), which is the government agency that prints money (called Federal Reserve notes) and buys back broken bills.
The BEP says that mutilated currency is pieces of paper money that are “damaged so much that one-half or less of the original note remains, or its condition is such that its value is questionable.”
Many things can damage currency notes, such as fire, water, chemicals, explosives, animals, insects, rodents, and petrification, which is the process of breaking down by burying. It’s possible that water damaged Venegas’ cash, and it’s clear that an animal or insect ate away at the corners.
If you have damaged money, you can bring it to the BEP’s office in Washington, D.C., or you can mail it to the office with a fully filled-out and signed BEP Form 5283. But getting the money back can take anywhere from six months to three years, which is too long for someone who needs it right away.
“What if I pass away before I get it?” Venegas brought up.
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A part of your pay
When Venegas learned how long she might have to wait to meet with the government to exchange her money, she called the Call Kurtis consumer investigations team at CBS Sacramento.
She found a lot of $100 bills that were mostly whole and marked with their value. CBS called Bank of America, where Venegas has banked for decades, to ask them to reconsider putting the money.
The bank’s website says that it “does not distribute or accept mutilated currency of any kind.” However, the bank changed its mind after seeing how bad Venegas’ cash was and after hearing about the investigation, it agreed to take $5,700 of the $6,000 haul.
Venegas, who was very happy about the money, said she would use it to pay off her late utility bills, which were putting a strain on her set retirement income.
Venegas will have to wait and see how long it takes for the rest of her cash to be checked before she can get her last $300.
