But State Sen. Marc A. Coppola said Taylor shouldn't have to confer with anyone.

Coppola ridiculed the Banking Department's contention that it cannot on its own go after stores charging up to 10 percent to cash checks and said that, if necessary, he will submit legislation that "specifically empowers" the Banking Department to enforce the law.

Both developments came amid a Buffalo News investigation that revealed neighborhood stores and gas minimarts cashing checks without a license and charging residents far more than the 99 cents state law allows.

The News was quoted fees of up to $30 to cash a $305 federal income tax check - and lesser, but still illegal, fees for other checks - after visiting eight neighborhood stores cited by residents.

The stores operate in plain sight. Some even have signs advertising their check-cashing services.

Taylor said her department does not have enforcement authority and works with local police and prosecutors when it gets complaints, sometimes even going "undercover" to collect evidence. When it uncovers a legitimate complaint, the department sends out so-called "14-day letters" giving offenders two weeks to explain what they're doing and to stop breaking the law.

Though the department reported looking into one complaint here last year, a spokesman said no such formal letters have been issued to stores in Buffalo.

Coppola, D-Buffalo, scoffed at the department's approach of seeking explanations from the stores that are cashing checks.

"Why would they call and say, "I'm charging these exorbitant fees. Am I allowed to?' " Coppola said.

Coppola said his chief of staff, an attorney, researched banking law and concluded the department already is empowered to go after unlicensed check-cashers on its own. He pointed to language empowering the superintendent to "make such rulings, demands and findings as [s]he may deem necessary for the proper conduct of the business authorized and licensed under and for the enforcement of this article."

In a letter to Taylor, Coppola said that section and another that mandates a license in order to cash checks "clearly give your department the authority and the responsibility to take actions against those who cash checks without a license."

But just in case there's any question, Coppola is drafting an amendment making clear that "enforcement of this provision shall be the obligation of the superintendent."

He said the Banking Department should be protecting people, many of whom are low-income and can't get bank accounts. As a result, they end up paying far more than most when they have to cash a check.

"These are the people who can least afford it," Coppola said.

Taylor wouldn't comment on the letter.

"I do not respond to letters in the media. I will respond to him directly," she said.

But she and John Dinin, the department's director of criminal investigations, noted the department has only six investigators for the whole state and no office in Buffalo. Investigators located here might have noticed some of the "We Cash Checks" signs and launched a probe, they agreed, if the department had more staff.

"We do absolutely go after unlicensed interests in the state, whenever and wherever we hear about them," Taylor said.

In light of The News' findings, she said, she will confer with police and prosecutors here "and take appropriate action if it is warranted." She and Dinin declined to be more specific for fear of compromising any possible probe.

Erie County District Attorney Frank J. Clark said that no one has complained to him about the illegal check-cashers and that he was surprised by The News' findings. Clark pointed to two potential problems in going after the corner stores: If a customer complained, he said, it could turn into a "he said, she said" case that could be hard to prove. Second, the amounts of money - $15 or $30 - in individual cases are so small that going after them might not be an efficient use of resources.

But, Clark said, if the Police Department decided this is a "quality of life" issue that merited an undercover operation in which officers could testify about widespread illegal fees that add up to big money, an undercover probe could be worth doing.

"I would be willing to sit down with the [police] commissioner and say, "Is this something we want to target?' " Clark said.

Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson did not return calls to comment Monday. Clark added that there also would have to be a commitment from judges to penalize the offenders if police build the case and his office prosecutes it.

"The idea requires a commitment from three separate branches," he said.

Currently, state law classifies the offense a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and fines on the stores of up to $500.

Coppola's proposal would hike the fines to "no less than $1,000 and no more than $5,000," in addition to putting clear responsibility on the Banking Department.

Coppola, a former Common Council member, said the City of Buffalo doesn't have the resources or expertise to send out inspectors to enforce the state law. He said neither does Niagara Falls, which he also represents in the Senate and which he said no doubt also has unlicensed stores cashing checks and charging illegal fees.

There is only one licensed check casher - Buffalo Check Cashing on Jefferson Avenue - operating in Western New York. It's allowed to charge only 1.64 percent of the face value of the check. Any other store charging more than 99 cents to cash checks is breaking the law.

News reporter Jonathan D. Epstein contributed to this report.
e-mail: rwatson@buffnews.com