> Err, a Cashiers Check is a check
> drawn on the bank. You give the
> bank the money and a fee and they
> give you a check for the amount.
> If your bank is not solvent enough
> to be guaranteed to clear a check
> of their own, I would NOT deal
> with them!
Well, well, well... Where to start?
Let's take the second part first. Your bank's solvency has nothing to do with it. The questions are with the issuing bank, their policies, whether or not the issuing bank actually issued the Cahsiers Check, and whether or not the issuing bank even exists.
As for what a Cashiers Check is: the bottom line is that it is just a piece of paper. That piece of paper conveys a promise to pay the specified amount of money, but that promise is subject to a LOT of "well, maybe not" conditions.
In some cases your bank may honor a cashiers check drawn on another bank without waiting for it to actually clear; but if you read your contract with your bank, they ALWAYS have the right to take the money back if the check doesn't clear.
Meanwhile under banking regulations there are quite a few ways that a cashiers check can fail to clear. The most obvioius is when the cashiers check is actually a forgery - which happens more than you might think.
Other situations where a bank can bounce its own cashiers check are more complicated (and rare) but they do exist.
Bottom line: A cashiers check is much safer than a personal check, but it is still only a piece of paper until after it has cleared the issuing bank.