(A) Any demand, savings, or matured time deposit with a banking or financial organization, including a deposit that is automatically renewable, and any funds paid toward the purchase of a share, a mutual investment certificate, or any other interest in a banking or financial organization is presumed abandoned unless the owner, within five years has:

(1) in the case of a deposit, increased or decreased its amount or presented the passbook or other similar evidence of the deposit for the crediting of interest;

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 27-18-70

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Financial organization: means a savings and loan association, cooperative bank, building and loan association, or credit union. See South Carolina Code 27-18-20
  • Holder: means a person, wherever organized or domiciled, who is:

    (a) in possession of property belonging to another;

    (b) a trustee; or

    (c) indebted to another on an obligation. See South Carolina Code 27-18-20
  • Owner: means a depositor in the case of a deposit, a beneficiary in case of a trust other than a deposit in trust, a creditor, claimant, or payee in the case of other intangible property, or a person having a legal or equitable interest in property subject to this chapter or his legal representative. See South Carolina Code 27-18-20

(2) communicated in writing with the banking or financial organization concerning the property;

(3) otherwise indicated an interest in the property as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file prepared by an employee of the banking or financial organization;

(4) owned other property to which item (1), (2), or (3) applies and if the banking or financial organization communicates in writing with the owner with regard to the property that would otherwise be presumed abandoned under this subsection at the address to which communications regarding the other property regularly are sent; or

(5) had another relationship with the banking or financial organization concerning which the owner has:

(a) communicated in writing with the banking or financial organization; or

(b) otherwise indicated an interest as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file prepared by an employee of the banking or financial organization and if the banking or financial organization communicates in writing with the owner with regard to the property that would otherwise be abandoned under this subsection at the address to which communications regarding the other relationship regularly are sent.

(B) For purposes of subsection (A) property includes interest and dividends.

(C) A holder may not impose with respect to property described in this section any charge in excess of one dollar a month due to dormancy or inactivity or cease payment of interest unless there is an enforceable written contract between the holder and the owner of the property pursuant to which the holder may impose a charge or cease payment of interest.

(D) Any property described in this section that is automatically renewable is matured for purposes of this section upon the expiration of its initial time period, but in the case of any renewal to which the owner consents at or about the time of renewal by communicating in writing with the banking or financial organization or otherwise indicating consent as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file prepared by an employee of the organization, the property is matured upon the expiration of the last time period for which consent was given. In the absence of such consent or memo, one automatic renewal is allowed for a period equal to the initial time period before the property is considered matured. If, at the time provided for delivery in § 27-18-200, a penalty or forfeiture in the payment of interest would result from the delivery of the property, the time for delivery is extended until the time when no penalty or forfeiture would result.

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