524.812 Remedies and proceedings for nonpayment of rent on safe deposit box.

1. A state bank shall have a lien upon the contents of a safe deposit box for past due rentals and any expense incurred in opening the safe deposit box, replacement of the locks thereon, and of any sale made pursuant to this section. If the rental of any safe deposit box is not paid within six months from the day it is due, at any time thereafter and while such rental remains unpaid, the state bank shall mail a notice by certified or registered mail to the customer at the customer’s last known address as shown upon the records of the state bank, stating that if the amount due for such rental is not paid on or before a specified day, which shall be at least thirty days after the date of mailing such notice, the state bank will remove the contents thereof and hold the same for the account of the customer.

2. If the rental for the safe deposit box has not been paid prior to the expiration of the period specified in a notice mailed pursuant to subsection 1 of this section, the state bank may, in the presence of two of its officers, cause the box to be opened and the contents removed. An inventory of the contents of the safe deposit box shall be made by the two officers present and the contents held by the state bank for the account of the customer.

3. If the contents are not claimed within two years after their removal from the safe deposit box, the state bank may proceed to sell so much of the contents as is necessary to pay the past due rentals and the expense incurred in opening the safe deposit box, replacement of the locks thereon and the sale of the contents. The sale shall be held at the time and place specified in a notice published prior to the sale once each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation published in the municipal corporation or unincorporated area in which the state bank has its principal place of business, or if there is none, a newspaper of general circulation published in the county, or in a county adjoining the county, in which the state bank has its principal place of business. A copy of the notice so published shall be mailed to the customer at the customer’s last known address as shown upon the records of the state bank. The notice shall contain the name of the customer and need only describe the contents of the safe deposit box in general terms. The contents of any number of safe deposit boxes may be sold under one notice of sale and the cost thereof apportioned ratably among the several safe deposit box customers involved. At the time and place designated in said notice the contents taken from each respective safe deposit box shall be sold separately to the highest bidder for cash and the proceeds of each sale applied to the rentals and expenses due to the state bank and the residue from any such sale shall be held by the state bank for the account of the customer or customers. Any amount so held as proceeds from such sale shall be credited with interest at the customary annual rate for savings accounts at said state bank, or in lieu thereof, at the customary rate of interest in the community where such proceeds are held. The crediting of interest shall not activate said account to avoid an abandonment as unclaimed property under chapter 556.

4. Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this section, shares, bonds, or other securities which, at the time of a sale pursuant to subsection 3 of this section, are listed on any established stock exchange in the United States, shall not be sold at public sale but may be sold through an established stock exchange. Upon the making of a sale of any such securities, an officer of the state bank shall execute and attach to the securities so sold an affidavit reciting facts showing that such securities were sold pursuant to this section and that the state bank has complied with the provisions of this section. The affidavit shall constitute sufficient authority to any corporation whose shares are so sold or to any registrar or transfer agent of such corporation to cancel the certificates of shares so sold and to issue a new certificate or certificates representing such shares to the purchaser thereof, and to any registrar, trustee, or transfer agent of registered bonds or other securities, to register any such bonds or other securities in the name of the purchaser thereof.

5. The proceeds of any sale made pursuant to this section, after the payment of any amounts with respect to which the state bank has a lien, any property which was not offered for sale and property which, although offered for sale, was not sold, shall be retained by the state bank until such time as the property is presumed abandoned according to the provisions of section 556.2, and shall thereafter be handled in accordance with the provisions of that chapter.

[C71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §524.812]

95 Acts, ch 148, §86

Referred to in §524.108, 524.813