Is Your Safety Deposit Box Really Safe?

Your safety deposit box may not be as safe as you think, as explained by an ABC News story I came across earlier today.  Banks are required by law to hand over unclaimed property such as the contents of safety deposit boxes, forgotten security deposits, and other unclaimed financial property to state government, where it is supposed to be safeguarded until claimed.  Unfortunately, rampant government spending has made the states desperate for new sources of revenue.  Some states have apparently been raiding these unclaimed properties, including the contents of safety deposit boxes, in order to shore up budget deficits.  Take the case of Carla Ruff.  According to the story, Ruff’s safety-deposit box was seized and turned over to the state of California, mistakenly marked as “owner unknown” even though Ruff did business with the bank regularly.  When she needed access to some important documents to help care for her ailing husband, she found out her box had been raided and the documents shredded.  Other valuable properties had been auctioned off at a huge discount to their actual worth.  I would be absolutely livid.  Obviously some sort of mistake was made and the bank didn’t turn over the contents of the box intentionally, but that does not excuse the state’s actions.

Don’t Assume Your Safety Deposit Box Is Safe

The moral of the story is not to keep anything you absolutely can’t afford to lose in a safety deposit box.  If you have important documents you’d like to safeguard, at the very least you should make copies and store them in a safe place at home.  As for valuables such as jewelry, collectibles, etc, you would probably do better to buy yourself a good fire- and water-proof safe and keeping them at home.  You can buy a 330-Cubic-Inch fire-and-waterproof safe from Amazon for about $40 (is there anything you CAN’T buy on Amazon these days?)  Of course, cases like this are extremely rare and Bank of America did admit its mistake and settle with Ms Ruff, so it was not a total loss.  You may choose to take your chances, but don’t assume your safety deposit back is 100% safe.