IBA Compliance Connection

Your go to source for compliance!

We have a safe deposit box that has been unpaid for the last five years, and we are preparing to drill the box and remit the contents to the Illinois Treasurer as unclaimed property. However, we learned that the sole owner of the safe deposit box is on active duty military service. Would this customer fall under the protection of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)?

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We do not believe that the SCRA would prevent your bank from fulfilling its obligation to remit abandoned property in a safe deposit box to the Illinois Treasurer in accordance with the Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA). While the SCRA would prevent the foreclosure or enforcement of a lien on items contained in a safe deposit box, it does not address state unclaimed property laws such as the Illinois RUUPA. Likewise, the Illinois Service Member Civil Relief Act does not address safe deposit boxes.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

  • Illinois RUUPA, 765 ILCS 1026/15-205 (“Tangible property held in a safe-deposit box are presumed abandoned if the property remains unclaimed by the apparent owner 5 years after the expiration of the lease or rental period for the box.”)
  • Illinois RUUPA, 765 ILCS 1026/15-603 (“Tangible property in a safe-deposit box may not be delivered to the administrator until a mutually agreed upon date that is no sooner than 60 days after filing the report under Section 15-401.”)
  • SCRA, 50 USC 3958 (“A person holding a lien on the property or effects of a servicemember may not, during any period of military service of the servicemember and for 90 days thereafter, foreclose or enforce any lien on such property or effects without a court order granted before foreclosure or enforcement.”)
  • SCRA, 50 USC 3958 (“For the purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘lien’ includes a lien for storage, repair, or cleaning of the property or effects of a servicemember or a lien on such property or effects for any other reason.”)