The Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (RUUPA) allows dormancy charges or escheat fees that are charged pursuant to a “valid contract [that] authorizes imposition of the charge for the apparent owner’s failure to claim property within a specified time.” Additionally, the account agreement must specify the time in which a dormancy fee will be charged, and dormancy fees must be “limited to an amount that is not unconscionable considering all relevant factors.”

Additionally, the Illinois Banking Act generally provides that banks may charge fees that have been agreed to by your customer and that the establishment of fees is a “business decision to be made by a bank according to prudent business judgment and safe and sound operating standards.”

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Illinois RUUPA, 765 ILCS 1026/15-602(a) (“A holder may deduct a dormancy charge or an escheat fee from property required to be paid or delivered to the administrator if: (1) a valid contract between the holder and the apparent owner authorizes imposition of the charge for the apparent owner’s failure to claim the property within a specified time; and (2) the holder regularly imposes the charge and regularly does not reverse or otherwise cancel the charge.”)

• Illinois RUUPA, 765 ILCS 1026/15-602(b) (“The amount of the deduction under subsection (a) is limited to an amount that is not unconscionable considering all relevant factors, including the marginal transactional costs incurred by the holder in maintaining the apparent owner’s property and any services received by the apparent owner.”)

• Illinois Banking Act, 205 ILCS 5/5e(b) (“The establishment of account service charges and the amounts of the charges not otherwise limited or prescribed by law is a business decision to be made by a bank according to prudent business judgment and safe and sound operating standards. In establishing account service charges, the bank may consider, but is not limited to considering, the costs incurred by the bank, plus a profit margin, for providing the service, the deterrence of misuse of the bank's services, the establishment of the competitive position of the bank in accordance with the bank's marketing strategy, and the maintenance of the safety and soundness of the bank.”)