Tompor: Dog chewed up your cash? What to do

Susan Tompor | USAToday

This is a story of a boy, his dog and the trail of torn twenties.

The boy was going off to a high-school football game. He grabbed some cash in a hurry and then left the remaining bills on his bed.

The dog saw the boy leave and jumped onto his favorite spot, the boy's bed. How nice of the boy to leave him something crisp to chew. The dog happily ripped into the greens.

Just how many Jacksons did our dog Phoenix eat? And what would we have to do to recover the cash?

As I gathered up the tiny bits of paper on the bedroom floor, I gently scolded my little buddy by telling our corgi that this kind of cash could have bought a nice meal out.

Once my son got home from the game, I asked him how much money he left on that bed. Obviously, as a teenage boy, he hedged and was pretty sure he only left two twenties and an untouched $10 bill.

But I was pretty sure I spotted a bit more green when Phoenix made his next deposit on the lawn the following morning.

What do you do when your dog eats your cash?

My cousin's wife, who helps out at her church, said people there sometimes stuff their envelopes with torn bills. The church sends that money to the bank.

Whether a local institution will accept your damaged money depends on the condition of it. One credit union told me it would accept mutilated cash if at least three-quarters of the bill is intact, including three corners, and the serial numbers are visible.

PNC Bank told me that it generally accepts damaged currency if more than half of the bill is remaining with a full serial number on one half and a partial on the other.

But for truly mutilated bills due to burning, exposure to chemicals or dyes, the bank advises customers to contact the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

Comerica Bank said its policy is to refer customers to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing if 49% or more of the bill is missing or in such a condition that the value is questionable.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing has a how-to online to tell consumers what to do with mutilated cash.

It seems dogs do eat money. A Montana man saw five $100 bills go to a dog, according to a Reuters report. Sundance, a golden retriever, found the cash in a car. The man recovered the digested bills and took them, taped up, to a local bank, but was turned away. He ended up mailing the recovered bills to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and eventually received a $500 check.

Money gets mangled for all sorts of reasons. Some people bury their cash in the ground and the paper currency can deteriorate in the earth, if not properly protected. Some recommend using PVC piping to keep dirt away from the cash if you bury money.

Or some people hide their cash in the attic or a wall, forget about it and then see piles of cash destroyed by termites or furry critters.

Money can be damaged by floods or fire.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing's website says mutilated currency may be mailed or personally delivered to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C.

"When mutilated currency is submitted, a letter should be included stating the estimated value of the currency and an explanation of how the currency became mutilated," the website says.

How long it can take to get that money replaced varies based on the extent of the damage and the overall workload. Standard claims can take six to 36 months to process.

The government generally wants to see at least 51% of each note. But there are cases where less can be exchanged if the Treasury is satisfied that the missing pieces have been totally destroyed.

About 20,000 to 30,000 individuals send money each year to the bureau to get mutilated currency replaced.

I waited a few months after the dog chowed down on the cash because I was not sure what to do. Yes, I did take a dog shaming picture with that cash for fun.

I'd guess that my cash might be called a category one in terms of damage. It didn't take more than 30 minutes or so to tape together. Most of each bill was there, maybe 75% or 80% of each one. Some money that the engraving bureau has to piece together looks far worse.

So, I went to my bank branch, pulled a plastic bag out of my purse and mumbled to the teller: "My dog ate my twenties."

The teller kindly quipped: "That's an expensive habit."

But the teller exchanged my twenties for complete bills. A co-worker next to him only told my teller to make sure that the serial numbers were intact, which they were.

This story of the boy, his dog and torn twenties clearly had one of those happy Hollywood endings. We even cashed in at the box office. But really, we will be more careful to avoid a sequel.

Contact Susan Tompor: 313-222-8876 or stompor@freepress.com

What do you do with damaged cash?

• Banks can exchange some mangled money for customers. Typically, badly soiled, dirty, defaced, disintegrated and torn bills can be exchanged through your local bank if more than half of the original note remains. These notes would be exchanged through your bank and processed by the Federal Reserve Bank.

• If the money is severely damaged, see steps for how to redeem mutilated currency at www.moneyfactory.gov.

• If you need to send your mutilated cash to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, take care to follow some tips. If the currency was mutilated in a purse, box or other container, it should be left in the container to protect the fragments from further damage.

Contact Susan Tompor: 313-222-8876 or stompor@freepress.com