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I arrived in the US 10 days ago. I got my SSN. The DMV told me I will get my ID in about 10 days.

I have to pay the rent plus some months prepaid which is USD 11,000.

My question is: I have my money in cash. The apartment manager doesn't accept cash and has asked me to bring in a cashier's check. How can I change my cash to a cashier's check without having a bank account?

Jacob Bundgaard
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Zoya Amin
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3 Answers3

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A cashier's check costs money to get and is not connected to an account. You have cash. You should be able to get a bank to sell you one, even without an account. Find a bank where you would like to open an account and explain the situation. I can't guarantee that that will work, but I would expect it to do so. If not, the bank can probably suggest an alternative.

You might also ask the landlord if you can do it with postal money orders. I am positive that you can buy those with cash. You might have to buy a bunch to reach your desired amount. Or perhaps a Western Union money order might be better.

You also might be able to open an account with your passport and Social Security Number (SSN).

Brythan
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If you have an SSN and foreign passport - it's all you need to open account, so just open it and order a checkbook. It will take some time before they will issue it but most probably they'll give you some checks to use till that very moment.

So basically you should:

  • Come to the bank, open account, put some money on that account.
  • Order a checkbook associated with that account.
  • Obtain a two-three checks right there and voila - you have some small piece of paper you can give to your landlord.

Also I strongly suggest you to open two accounts - one would be for you and one for rent exclusively. The thing is that check could be cashed any time and it's pretty annoying exercise to keep that in mind.

shabunc
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the easiest thing would be to go to walmart and stock up on 1000$ money orders paying a 70 cents fee for each. your landlord would almost certainly accept money orders, but double check first just in case. i say stock up because you can't get a money order for more than 1000$ and they usually won't let you buy more than 3 per day.

alternatively, you can probably open a bank account using your ssn and your passport. look for any bank offering "free" checking, and they should be able to give you a few "starter" checks on the spot when you open the account. in any case, they can certainly get you a cashier's check for free or a small fee.

side note: if you want to shop around for a checking account, look for a bank or credit union offering a "kasasa" account.

teldon james turner
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