Troy Bank & Trust Company v. Citizens Bank
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Troy Bank sued Citizens Bank seeking to recover damages Troy Bank claimed to have suffered as a result of a check encoding error made by Citizens Bank. Troy Bank alleged that it was entitled to recover damages under Alabama's check-encoding warranty, 7-4-209, Ala. Code 1975. Citizens Bank filed a motion for a summary judgment arguing that it was not strictly liable for its encoding error, but that Troy Bank "had an obligation to mitigate its damages and attempt to avoid loss altogether. [Troy Bank] failed to do this when it sent no written notice of dishonor or nonpayment before its midnight deadline and it allowed final payment to be made from [the accountholder]...." In this case, the encoding warranty, which is applied to determine liability as between banks, operated to shift the liability to Citizens Bank. "To hold that Citizens Bank is not liable for the damage it caused Troy Bank based on Citizens Bank's encoding error would render the encoding warranty useless and strip Troy Bank of a legislatively enacted protection." The Supreme Court concluded that the circuit court erred in its application of the law to the facts of this case.
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