Topic: Unclaimed Property
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We are in need of clarification regarding automatically renewable time deposits under the Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA). If our customers consent in writing to an automatic renewal feature, would their accounts be considered dormant three years after the first automatic renewal, even though the customer has consented to the auto renewal?
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Yes, absent any qualifying activity for the account, an automatically renewing time deposit account must be treated as unclaimed property once three years have passed from the first renewal date. The Illinois RUUPA does provide that automatically renewable accounts will not be considered unclaimed if “the apparent owner consented in a record on file with…
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Our institution sells two types of instruments, money orders and cashier’s checks. We sell money orders in amounts up to $2,500 and cashier’s checks for larger amounts. For cashier’s checks, we print the payee on the check, but for money orders, the payee is blank. When these products become unclaimed property, who should we report as the owner? We currently report cashier’s checks as owned by the payee and money orders as having unknown owners.
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We believe that your bank may continue to report the owner of these instruments as the payee, if the payee is known. For money orders that are sold with a blank payee line, we believe that reporting the owner as “unknown” would be acceptable. The Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA) requires property…
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For a certificate of deposit (CD), is cashing an interest check sufficient to count as activity on the account under the new Illinois unclaimed property law? What if we call and speak to the customer to confirm that they want to renew the CD? What if the customer logs into online banking to look at a checking account balance, but we can’t confirm that the customer looked at the CD balance? Our online banking system does not automatically show account information for CDs by default — viewing a CD’s balance would require an additional click after logging in.
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Yes, cashing a check for CD interest is a valid indication of interest under the Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA). The “presentment of a check” for an “interest payment” is one of many activities that serve as an “indication of interest” under the Illinois RUUPA. However, note that if the CD’s interest…
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Are we required to notify our customers regarding the shorter presumed abandonment period of three years for unclaimed property in Illinois?
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No, we are not aware of any requirement to notify your customers regarding the shortened presumed abandonment periods for bank deposit accounts under the Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA). Of course, it would be prudent to attempt to notify your customers before your bank turns over property that is presumed abandoned to…
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Are we correct that under the new Illinois unclaimed property law, the presumed abandonment period for a certificate of deposit (CD) begins after the initial renewal date — not allowing for one automatic rollover as under the previous law?
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Yes, you are correct. The new Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA) calculates the presumed abandonment period for CDs from the “initial date of maturity.” Unlike the previous Illinois unclaimed property law, the Illinois RUUPA does not allow for one automatic CD rollover or renewal before the presumed abandonment period begins to run.…
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If we have a customer who is living in a foreign country, such as Greece or Mexico, and the last known address we have on file for them is the foreign address, do we escheat to that foreign country or the state of Illinois?
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We recommend reporting this property to the Illinois Treasurer, unless the foreign country of your customer’s last-known address has its own unclaimed property law (which appears to be the case in only a handful of countries, such as Japan). The new Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA) requires holders to report unclaimed property…
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If a customer has multiple accounts that are active, but one of their accounts is dormant, can we use the customer’s last activity date on another account for the inactive account?
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Yes, the new Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA) provides that an inactive deposit account is considered active if “any other accounts, including loan accounts” at the same financial institution have qualifying activities “directed by an apparent owner,” such as increasing or decreasing the account funds or making a loan payment. For resources related…
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As a hypothetical, let’s say we have two accounts that share the same address, Account 1 and Account 2. Account 1 has two owners, individuals A and B. Account 2 has just one owner, individual B. Under the new Illinois unclaimed property law, if Account 2 is active due to individual B’s activities, does that count as activity on Account 1?
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Yes, we believe that an owner’s account activities also will cause that owner’s other accounts to be considered active, even if the other accounts are held jointly with other individuals. The new Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA) provides that an inactive deposit account is considered active if “any other accounts, including loan…
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We sometimes learn of a customer’s death from a federal agency’s ACH death notification entry (DNE). Does a DNE notice count as confirmation of a customer’s death? Can we refuse to remit property until we have a death certificate on file, since we would end up remitting the property after three years of inactivity in any event?
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Yes, we believe that your institution should treat a DNE notice as confirmation of a customer’s death under the new Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA). We do not recommend waiting until a death certificate is presented. Generally, the Illinois RUUPA shortens the presumed abandonment period for property held by a deceased customer…
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We have several dormant safe deposit boxes, for which the lessors often are older customers. When can we treat these safe deposit boxes as active? Do the customers have to access the box physically to keep it active?
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No, customers do not need to access their safe deposit boxes physically in order to keep them active. The new Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA) provides several options for property owners to indicate an interest in their property. An “indication of interest” could include any written communication to the bank from the…