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Given the amount of fraud involving money orders these days, I imagine the seller is just as suspicious of you as you are of him. The money order went to a street address, right? You checked this guy out before you sent him any money, right? So if you know the check was delivered to the real address of the seller, I don't see what you have to worry about. If he deposited the check but doesn't let you pick up the tractor, then you can have him put in jail. On the other hand, if you stop payment on the check for no good reason, you're in the wrong and he can put YOU in jail. Banks are getting very bad about putting holds on funds, but there is statutory maximum period for which they can place a hold. In general, if the deposit is over $5000, they can hold $4900 for five days and the amount over $5000 for nine days. There's an exception if the bank thinks your money order is bad or the depositor has a record of overdrafts; then they can hold everything for 11 days. If you think the seller is giving you a runaround, ask to see a copy of the hold order. The bank has to give him a statement in writing when they put a hold on deposit funds. If the seller is straight up, he should have no problem faxing you a copy of the hold order. The Wikipedia article below has a good explanation of how long a bank can place a hold on funds.
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