Not sure about in the US.
But in Aus, a deposited cheque is normally credited immediately - but the funds aren't available until it clears. Anything that prints you a balance of your account thus has a value of "available funds". Cheques here take 2 or 3 business days to clear.
Then, too, if your bank accepts the cheque, then the other bank clears it, and then they figure out it is a dishonour, they have to find that out within a certain time. After that, they are supposed to wear the cost. There was a story some while back about a guy getting one of those "sweepstakes" cheques in the mail that looked genuine enough to cash. So he deposited it. Then he withdrew it all again as a cashier's check when he put in a safe-deposit box. To cut a long story short, the banks took too long to figure out the cheque was not real so he was legally entitled to the money.
Wade.
