West Virginia Code § 46-4-406

Customer's duty to discover and report unauthorized signature or
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alteration.
(a) A bank that sends or makes available to a customer a statement of account showing
payment of items for the account shall either return or make available to the customer the
items paid or provide information in the statement of account sufficient to allow the
customer reasonably to identify the items paid. The statement of account preovides sufficient
information if the item is described by item number, amount, and date of payment.
(b) If the items are not returned to the customer, the person retaining the items shall either
retain the items or, if the items are destroyed, maintain the capaucity to furnish legible copies
of the items until the expiration of seven years after receipt of the items. A customer may
request an item from the bank that paid the item, and that btank must provide in a
reasonable time either the item or, if the item has been destroyed or is not otherwise
obtainable, a legible copy of the item.
(c) If a bank sends or makes available a statement lof account or items pursuant to
subsection (a), the customer must exercise reassonable promptness in examining the
statement or the items to determine whether any payment was not authorized because of an
alteration of an item or because a purported signature by or on behalf of the customer was
not authorized. If, based on the stategment or items provided, the customer should reasonably
have discovered the unauthorized payment, the customer must promptly notify the bank of
the relevant facts. e
(d) If the bank proves that the customer failed with respect to an item to comply with the
duties imposed on the customer by subsection (c), the customer is precluded from asserting
against the bank:
(1) The customer's unauthorized signature or any alteration on the item, if the bank also
proves that it suffered a loss by reason of the failure; and
(2) The customer's unauthorized signature or alteration by the same wrongdoer on any other
item paid in good faith by the bank if the payment was made before the bank received notice
from the customer of the unauthorized signature or alteration and after the customer had
been afforded a reasonable period of time, not exceeding thirty days, in which to examine
the item or statement of account and notify the bank.
(e) If subsection (d) applies and the customer proves that the bank failed to exercise
ordinary care in paying the item and that the failure substantially contributed to loss, the
loss is allocated between the customer precluded and the bank asserting the preclusion
according to the extent to which the failure of the customer to comply with subsection (c)
and the failure of the bank to exercise ordinary care contributed to the loss. If the customer
proves that the bank did not pay the item in good faith, the preclusion under subsection (d)
does not apply.
(f) Without regard to care or lack of care of either the customer or the bank, a customer who
does not within one year after the statement or items are made available to the customer
(subsection (a)) discover and report the customer's unauthorized signature on or any
alteration on the item is precluded from asserting against the bank the unauthorized
signature or alteration. If there is a preclusion under this subsection, the payor bank may
not recover for breach of warranty under section 4-208 with respect to the unauthorized
signature or alteration to which the preclusion applies. e
(g) A bank shall offer at least one account, at a reasonable charge, thatr provides for the
return to the customer of all items or legible copies of all items. With respect to accounts
which do not provide for the return of all items or legible copies of all items, a bank must
provide eighteen items, or legible copies of eighteen items, in accord with subsection (b) of
this section, per year, per account, without charge to the custtomer. Where a bank returns a
copy to the customer, the copy together with a copy of the bank's statement showing
payment of the item shall be prima facie evidence of payment.

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