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Home >> Safe Deposit Boxes
Bank Holds Safe Deposit Box Contents for Sixty Days
My mother’s bank contacted her about her safe deposit box, which had been inactive for ten years. She had moved from that area and not returned to the bank, so she mailed the key back to the branch vice president with instructions to open the box and return any contents to her. They actually found several thousand dollars in cash in the box, which the bank VP claimed they put into a locked bag in their vault. Mom was told if she could come into their branch in person, she could have the money on demand. However, if she couldn’t get there in person, they would send the cash to a Chase branch closer to where she now lives, but only after they hold onto the bag and contents for sixty days.
I think they are stalling and withholding my mother’s money without cause. She provided the key, the signature and no one is questioning that she owns the contents. Why can’t they transfer it to a branch near her immediately, where she could provide identification and pick it up?
I was initially told this sixty day hold was regulatory. When I demanded to know the citation for that regulation they said it was a bank policy. When I asked to speak with someone in the safe deposit box department, they said they would not speak to anyone outside the bank. I have left several messages with the Regional District Manager and received no response. This is very frustrating and I hope you can shed some light on this situation.
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 You could write a letter of complaint to the bank's federal or state regulatory agency, and send a copy to the bank's chief executive officer. The bank should be able to provide you with contact information. If the delay is, in fact, due to bank policy, there may be little the regulator can do beyond asking the bank to review the case to see if a better outcome may be possible.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 6/16/10
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