I paid a bill with a check on 9/9/2011 which was not cashed until February 2012. The amount was 394.21 and it over drew my acct. What can I do?

Unfortunately, no. The check was, in the words of the Uniform Commercial Code, "properly payable" from your account. You are responsible for keeping a check register so that you know which checks are outstanding and have not yet been cashed. While checks become "stale" after the passage of six months (the six-month frame had not yet passed in this case), you are never privileged to assume that an outstanding check will not be cashed unless you have stopped payment on it.