10/14/2011 - More and more US Businesses refuse to accept cash

Try to spend C-notes outside of the US... no one wants them. They are hard enough to spend here. Companies want you using their own currency (gift card). Seems there is a shift from the Cash is King days to No Cash accepted.

http://www.isitlegalto.com/new-york...ccept-cash.html

"Recently, when we came across a restaurant in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village that had adopted a credit-card only policy, we thought it might make for an interesting little non-law related piece for the WSJ.

But of course, as it turns out, there’s a legal angle (isn’t there always)?

Let’s get to that in a minute. For now, the story. Tucked at the end of one of the shortest streets in Manhattan lies a well-regarded restaurant called Commerce, which opened early last year. On Wednesday, the restaurant adopted a new policy: it would no longer accept cash. That’s right: it’s credit and debit-cards only at Commerce, which dishes out $13 cocktails and $23 plates of spaghetti carbonara, among other fare, to its mostly well-heeled clientele.

So what’s the deal? The restaurant’s co-owner, Tony Zazula, said the convenience and security afforded by going cashless are well worth the added cost of the transaction fees imposed by card-issuing banks. Gone is the age-old restaurateur’s fear of getting robbed, either by outsiders or his own employees. “No more armored trucks,” he says.

Fair enough. But is this whole project legal? On first blush, there’s the whiff of something being illegal about it — aren’t greenbacks “legal tender” for “all debts, public and private?”

We asked Zazula about that, and he referred us to this page on the Department of Treasury’s Web site.

The applicable statute governing legal tender is Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, which states, simply: “United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.”

Okay. That doesn’t sound like it works in Zazula’s favor. But Treasury explains:

There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.

Nevertheless, a reader named Justin McLachlan sent us this alternate perspective, which we considered provocative enough to put up here. Writes McLachlan:

Treasury’s interpretation is right — they’re talking about the concept known as an “offer to treat” or “offer to bargain” and generally, transactions where the obligation to pay arises and goods or services are received simultaneously. A store can forbid, say, bank notes over $50 because the person shopping there is made aware of the store’s terms before any debt is occurred. Say I want to buy a candy bar at a gas station, but I’ve only got a $100 bill. The store refuses to take it and since I’ve not yet incurred a debt with them (I haven’t eaten the candy bar), they don’t have to take my $100 and I don’t owe them any money. We simply walk away.

But in a restaurant, you usually pay after you’ve eaten the food. You’ve incurred a debt, and you’re allowed to pay for it later. It’s not always clear how much the final bill will be or what payment forms will be accepted and without putting it in writing, it’s difficult to say I knew that they wouldn’t take cash or that they don’t take Discover, etc (did I fully understand the terms of the offer?). A restaurant that allows someone to incur a debt (eat their food) and pay later becomes a creditor and would be required to accept legal tender to satisfy that debt, unless there was some offer to treat or bargain in the mix, say they explicitly told their customers — in a very noticeable way — that they would only accept credit for payment and you still decide to eat their food or they make you pay up front before you even get it.

We’re not sure if Justin’s right, but we liked how he expressed his point. In any event, the other night at Commerce, at least during the hour or so we were there, the staff members all made it very clear to patrons prior to their ordering that they weren’t accepting cash, thus, in our view, circumventing Justin’s issue."


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Get a load of this crap: Cash Transactions Banned by Louisiana

http://ackelandassociates.com/cash-...d-by-louisiana/


This summer, the State Legislature and Governor of Louisiana passed a law that bans individuals and businesses from transacting in cash if they are considered a “secondhand dealer”. House Bill 195 of the 2011 Regular Session (Act 389) broadly defines a secondhand dealer to include “… Anyone, other than a non-profit entity, who buys, sells, trades in or otherwise acquires or disposes of junk or used or secondhand property more frequently than once per month from any other person, other than a non-profit entity, shall be deemed as being in the business of a secondhand dealer. ” The law then states that “A secondhand dealer shall not enter into any cash transactions in payment for the purchase of junk or used or secondhand property. Payment shall be made in the form of check, electronic transfers, or money order issued to the seller of the junk or used or secondhand property…” The broad scope of this definition can essentially encompass everyone; from your local flea market vendors and buyers to a housewife purchasing goods on ebay or craigslist, to a group of guys trading baseball cards, they could all be considered secondhand dealers. Lawmakers in Louisiana have effectively banned its citizens from freely using United States legal tender.

The law goes further to require secondhand dealers to turn over a valuable business asset, namely, their business’ proprietary client information. For every transaction a secondhand dealer must obtain the seller’s personal information such as their name, address, driver’s license number and the license plate number of the vehicle in which the goods were delivered. They must also make a detailed description of the item(s) purchased and submit this with the personal identification information of every transaction to the local policing authorities through electronic daily reports. If a seller cannot or refuses to produce to the secondhand dealer any of the required forms of identification, the secondhand dealer is prohibited from completing the transaction.

This legislation amounts to a public taking of private property without due process or compensation. Regardless of whether or not the transaction information is connected with, or law enforcement is investigating a crime, individuals and businesses are forced to report routine business activity to the police. Can law enforcement not accomplish its goal of identifying potential thieves and locating stolen items in a far less intrusive manner? And of course, there are already laws that prohibit stealing, buying or selling stolen goods, laws that require businesses to account for transactions and laws that penalize individuals and businesses that transact in stolen property. Why does the Louisiana State Legislature need to enact more laws infringing on personal privacy, liberties and freedom?

Motivating the introduction of this legislation was an increase in criminal activity, necessitating law enforcement to develop additional tools in tracking potential criminals. Thefts of copper and other precious metals have risen recently with higher commodity prices and mounting pressures from the economic downturn. The added restrictions under this recent legislation have come about under the pretense of cracking down on crime and helping the government take care of you, all at the cost of your individual privacy, economic, civil liberty and freedom.

Interestingly enough, although Pawnshops are still required to obtain clients personal information and transmit their client database information to law enforcement, they are exempt from the restriction of cash payments. A jeweler next door to a pawnshop cannot offer clients the same payment method offered by its competing pawnshop neighbor.

Act 389 passed by unanimous consent of the Louisiana House of Representatives and only mustered one nay vote (Senator Neil Riser) from the State Senate. The governor signed the legislation into law on July 1, 2011.