How NOT To Bank.

[JethroB]

I finally got my escheated check from NJ and paid back the loan I took out to pay back my renters deposit.
This process was easy, but I still ask why they took my money without notifying me.
Good luck fighting the government on this one.
Will never put money into that bank again and NO more paperless banking.

I can sympathize with a bank's side a bit. At work we were to turn over any uncashed checks to the state after two years. It was a PITA. We wrote about 60,000 payroll and vendor checks each year. First we attempted to contact by mail to the last known address, then by phone if we had a number. Then confirm their identity if they responded. Sometimes small amounts somehow got lost, Oops. Banks I believe have a higher standard of care due to regulations.

 

[kenmbz]

They certainly had my phone number and email address. An it was 1.5 years from last activity.
Escheatment in NJ is supposed to happen at 2 years of no activity.

 

[ultrarunner]

Family bank Safe Deposit Box was marked to go to State as Abandoned and looking further Bank said no more business relationship.

Funny because they had two IRA accounts and one was basis for free safe deposit...

Another problem Mom and Grandma were joint owners of another Safe Deposit.

When Grandma passed mom went down with ID, Papers and Key to find no safe deposit.

She persisted and learned it had been drilled open the day after Grandma passed under power of attorney for Estate... go figure.

 

[two_bit_score]

They certainly had my phone number and email address. An it was 1.5 years from last activity.
Escheatment in NJ is supposed to happen at 2 years of no activity.

Banks normally close an inactive account administratively several months before escheating the money to the state. Here in Texas anyway. Jersey, well, you picked it, not me.

Anyway, when the "close" the account it isn't automatically escheated. But if you tried to sign on to your on-line account you wouldnt be able to and that would make you get on the ball and get in touch and just say, Hey, Im still here. Then they would not have escheated your funds. They dont have any benefit from escheating funds unless its a real small account and they just want it off the books.

Of course, maybe you ticked someone off down there and they just wanted to dump you.

 

[kenmbz]

It's TD bank, don;t think I have ever seen the same staff at any branch from month to month.
Went to one in PA when I moved here and somehow after a year or so , address changed back to NJ.
Probably had a data issue and did a restore from an old backup, so convenient.

 

[Molelaner]

Because of such news, I never wanted to keep money and monitor my account through an American bank. Very often, bankers deceived people and did not give them a chance in court. In this situation, a person lost 18,000 thousand dollars, and my friend lost more than 50 thousand, imagine because he was on the road and ignored the bank for a long time. But he couldn't answer them. There was no Internet back then. Since then, I always keep money only in a German bank and generally keep an account of my money through German services like this girokonto kündigen. And it seems to me that it is much safer and better for your own money.