Topic: Unclaimed Property
-
Our bank issues checks to sponsor community events. Some of these checks are never cashed for various reasons, such as the events being cancelled due to COVID or because the payee organizations no longer exist. Some of the coordinators of these events have told us that they have no intention of ever cashing these checks and have already destroyed them. Are we required to send these funds to the Illinois Treasurer as abandoned property, or can we take the funds back as income?
—
by
We believe your bank must report the checks to the Illinois Treasurer as unclaimed property if they have remained uncashed for at least three years. Under the Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA), a check on which a bank is directly liable becomes reportable as unclaimed property if it has not been cashed…
-
When a deposit account owner has died, when should we report the deposit account as unclaimed property? Is it timed from the date of death or from the last indication of interest?
—
by
We believe that a deposit account whose owner has died should be reported as unclaimed property two years from the date of the owner’s last indication of interest. Generally, a deposit account is presumed abandoned under the Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA) if it is unclaimed by the owner “3 years after…
-
Is there any law on how and when a safe deposit box can be drilled for non-payment?
—
by
We are not aware of any Illinois law or regulation that expressly addresses drilling safe deposit boxes for nonpayment until the property in the box is presumed abandoned or your bank receives letters of office, another applicable court order, or a small estate affidavit requiring you to open the box and remove its contents. As…
-
We have two safe deposit boxes (for two different customers) that are both five years’ delinquent in paying their annual rental fees. We have sent multiple notices, the last of which was sent certified mail, return receipt requested. Both customers signed their return receipt cards but have made no other contact with the bank, and their fees remain outstanding. Is this an indication of interest, or can we drill the boxes and turn the contents over to the state?
—
by
Yes, an apparent owner’s return of a signed return receipt for a notice regarding unclaimed property sent by certified mail would constitute an indication of interest under the Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA). However, you still may be entitled to drill the boxes and remit property in the boxes to the Illinois…
-
We have been referencing the IBA’s 2018 chart on revised abandonment periods under the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA), which lists the presumed abandonment period for money orders as seven years. However, we found that the Illinois RUUPA lists the presumed abandonment period for money orders as five years. Is that correct?
—
by
Yes, the Illinois RUUPA was amended in 2021 to shorten the presumed abandonment period for unclaimed money orders from seven to five years after issuance. Our Unclaimed Property topic page contains an updated IBA chart listing the presumed abandonment periods for many different types of property. For resources related to our guidance, please see: Illinois…
-
We did not send notice to our customers that property held in their safe deposit boxes would be reported as abandoned property until September 22, leaving fewer than sixty days before we must report and remit the property to the Illinois Treasurer. Is it too late to remit the property to the Illinois Treasurer this year, and are we required to send a second notice to these customers by certified mail?
—
by
No, it is not too late to report and remit abandoned property held in the safe deposit boxes this year. We contacted the Illinois Treasurer’s office about this question (without using your bank’s name) and were told that if the sixty-day notice period will expire shortly after the November 1 deadline, you should delay filing…
-
Our safety deposit box contract states that in cases of delinquencies, we may debit any of the customer’s accounts and access our customers’ boxes to collect their contents to satisfy delinquent rental payments, provided that we give our customers thirty days’ notice. What Illinois law or regulation allows this practice?
—
by
We believe that Illinois law would allow a bank to apply a valid right of setoff to recover delinquent safety deposit box rental payments. Illinois courts have long confirmed banks’ setoff rights, which can arise either contractually (when a loan agreement or account agreement provides for a right of setoff) or under common law when…
-
A husband and wife opened twelve-month, single ownership, automatically renewing certificates of deposit (CDs) at our bank in November 2013. The husband and wife passed away in May and June of 2019. The couple owned a business, and these CDs were pledged as collateral on a loan, but the loan has had no activity on it. The executor has not done anything with these CDs and has not contacted us at all since the couple died. Would the CDs be considered dormant in 2023 and need to be turned over as unclaimed property?
—
by
We believe that the CDs should have been reported as unclaimed property in 2021, since neither the executor nor any beneficiaries have indicated interest in the CDs after your customers died. Generally, an automatically renewable time deposit is presumed abandoned under the Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA) if it is unclaimed by…