which_chick | (no subject)

Sometimes I realize that I am not leading the life of the average Merkin. Last weekend, while cleaning, Dad came upon an envelope containing three CDs, one for brother the elder, one for me, and one for brother the younger, 1K apiece. (Apparently we'd forgotten that they existed.) This has happened before -- I have a savings bond, series E, from 1978, that matures in 2008 for a face of fifty bucks. Fifty bucks is fifty bucks, you see, and while that's not as much as it was in 1978, it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

The CDs in question were from 1984 and had an initial term of two and a half years at an interest rate of 10.10% (annual), reverting to prevailing rate at the first and subsequent renewals. (Brother the younger got five years at 10.10% because he was younger.) As far as we can tell, the CDs are still good. On the back of the CDs, it says the following: The original term and any renewal term of this certificate shall be extended automatically for an additional term equal to the original term unless the Registered Holder shall present and surrender this certificate for payment (blah blah blah).

I've called the bank to see what these damn things are worth (we expect the amount in question to be somewhere between two and three thousand dollars per CD) and what (if anything) I have to do to get the money if, indeed, I want to get the money out right now. I might could be willing to wait until it comes due again. When I called, the bank claimed that these CDs do not exist. I have faxed photocopies, front and back, of the CDs to the bank and they are allegedly investigating the matter.

We are virtually certain that the CDs have not been redeemed because (a) we'd forgotten they existed and (b) it says on them that you have to turn in the certificate to get the money and (c) we have had the exact same legal address since the issuing of the CDs. A full report will be provided to brothers the elder and younger once I've completed the necessary research. :)

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This reminds me of when we paid off a loan at our bank, and after acouple of months I called them to find out when we'd get the stock certificates back that I'd used as collateral.

They told me I already had them. I said, No, I didn't. They said they had mailed them to me months ago. I said, I didn't receive them.

The post office refused to do anything to find them because the Bank, as the posting group, had to request it.

It left a very nasty taste in my mouth, and we still avoid using PNC bank whenever possible.

At some point, I really need to go to one of those learn-about-money-at-your-local-library nights. The sentence The CDs in question were from 1984 and had an initial term of two and a half years at an interest rate of 10.10% (annual), reverting to prevailing rate at the first and subsequent renewals, when read into my brain, comes out as basically like this:

Boopidy beep boop-bop.

Yes, R2-D2 is responsible for my financial decisions.

I honestly don't think I could forget the existence of three thousand dollars! I still remember every bank account I ever had.

Me likey money.

I think this was money set aside for us rather than money we, ourselves, set aside.

These may not even exist as CDs. The bank currently says that they don't exist.

The bank lady said, "That isn't even a number we use for CDs."

The bank lady said, "I can't find anything with your social in the computer."

And then the bank lady said, "Can you fax a copy of the certificates?"

I did that.

The bank lady said, "Well, there are ways for the money to be withdrawn without turning over the certificates." That's not what the certificates say on them, but I guess there might be a provision for lost or destroyed certificates - but then the bank would have records of that, right? Probably there'd be a notarized statement that we'd lost the certificates and a margin note or something saying that these certificates with the following serial numbers had been redeemed. There would be records.

The bank lady also ventured the explanation that we'd perhaps moved to new addresses so that the PO Box 42 address on the CDs was now not a valid address. I think she was angling for the "You'd fallen off the face of the planet so we assumed the accounts were inactive and published notices and finally took your damn money." excuse -- I believe that's what banks do with unclaimed money after a while. The bank lady did not seem very reassured when I explained that we'd rented PO Box 42 (the address typed on the CDs) from that same post office, continually and without respite, from at least ten years before the CDs were issued to the present day and that at no time during that interval would postal mail sent to us at that address have been returned as invalid.

I think that perhaps the CDs were deemed inactive or something. I think maybe they didn't get computerized. It's possible that we took them out with some kind of affidavit on the grounds that we'd lost the actual certificates. However, if that's the case, then the bank should have records to show that they've redeemed the CDs. If they do not have records of having redeemed the CDs, then they can redeem them now. :) I trust that there is microfilm.

I would expect you'd remember that, wouldn't you?

It is possible that after seven years with no input from the account owners the money was given to the state as unclaimed funds. This process is called escheating.

For normal transaction accounts I KNOW the time frame is seven years (working in a bank you get to know these things). I am not sure if it is longer for CDs or not, but since it has been 18 yrs, my guess is that the bank turned the money over to the state some time back, which is why they cannot find a record of it.

Nowadays, banks are required to send a written notice of renewal to the account holder of record for CD accounts reminding people that they have money. This is why it is important to keep your address up to date with your financial institutions. And yes, I know your family hasn't moved, but if I am remembering correctly that did not use to be the case so the accounts may have been given to the state before the whole send written notification thing.

Also, your bond may be worth more than $50 face value. If you go to the treasury website you can look it up, but based on my experience it is probably worth a hundred bucks or more at this point. If you tell me the month it was issued I can also look it up at work.

That's probably what happened to it -- PA law for escheating for all kinds of things, including auto-renewing CDs, changed from 7 years to 5 years in 2002 (according to the internets).

The initial maturity for the CDs of me and brother-the-elder was 1987. Seven years from that would have been 1994 but the patreasury.org website says that there is no time limit or expiration on unclaimed money. The initial maturity of brother-the-younger's CD was five years, so it would have come due in 1989, renewed ONCE for five years, and also ended life in 1994.

Interestingly, the one for brother-the-younger made it into the database, which has the address wrong but the correct (uncommon) last name and bank name and PO Box. I have called brother-the-younger and told him to get started with the reclamation process on that front.

I will inform ye olde bank of the unclaimed property discovery on the morrow and we ask for records demonstrating that either (a) the other two CDs were satisfied or (b) they were sent to the state as unclaimed property (they're not showing up on the fucking database, though) or (c) they'll be sending us checks shortly or (d) they'd like to talk to my attorney.

My, what fun we're having with our new electric train set!