Posted on 07/02/2007 7:53:59 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
Anguished tales of property taken by state
Tom Chorneau, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Monday, July 2, 2007
(07-02) 04:00 PDT Sacramento -- Years ago, Carla Ruff stored her grandmother's jewelry and a file of personal documents in a safe-deposit box at her bank in San Francisco's Noe Valley, thinking they would always be there when she wanted them.
Not so. Without giving her notice or acting on evidence that she'd forgotten about her cache, the bank's staff, under the auspice of the state, determined the contents of her box to be unclaimed property.
In July 1997, bank records show, the pearl necklace and diamond-encrusted pin, real estate and insurance documents as well as her birth certificate were all removed. The paperwork was shredded and thrown away. Her jewelry was auctioned off on eBay -- for a fraction of its $80,000 value.
Ruff said she didn't know what had happened until January 2006, when an illness in the family sent her to the Bank of America branch looking for the deed to her house. Weeks later, the bank manager told Ruff that her property had been seized by the state under a law that requires the government to take control of lost or abandoned assets.
"I was outraged -- absolutely outraged," she said. "I entrusted the things that were most precious to me to an institution that I thought would be safe, and that trust was betrayed."
The 58-year-old publishing consultant is one of a growing number of people who believe that the state of California and its agents have been too aggressive in the past decade in seeking out private property -- from bank and brokerage accounts to safe-deposit boxes and payouts from insurance policies -- that is thought to be lost or unclaimed.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Snort!
Yes a "new outreach program" so that the state can reach out once again and commit theft. The seizing of private property is what makes communism, communism.
This should be an easy lawsuit. Bank of America for one is liable. If the rent had been paid on the box and/or if they had her address on record, they are clearly liable. The state should be liable under the US Constitution for unreasonable search and seizure. Let’s see how this plays out in court.
Legal paperwork, but no attempt to contact prior?
Amazing.
Liberal policies have elevated the state above the individual.
Fred Thompson, you are being called to service, stat!
Simple answer - store your money and valuables in banks across the border in Nevada or Arizona - both states where private property is much more highly respected than in California. Once banks start seeing their assets and investment capital dwindle, they’ll see the light, and start being more trustworthy, and use their clout to try to get the law changed.
Private property?? What is this private property of which you speak?? That is a foreign concept to state functionaries in California.
HEY...this almost happened to us....the bank moved the safe deposit boxes, and although we had an account there, we had changed addresses....so they couldn’t “find” us.....luckily, I went to look for something in the box...and found out they were thinking ours was “abandoned.”
ALWAYS physically check your safe deposit box - at least once a year!
The startling thing here is that the Ninth Circuit actually got a ruling right.
And, this was Bank of America in WA State.
There is no property ownership in America. The state just lets you carry stuff around until it wants it back.
Yep. You pretty much covered it.
It's the same with your money.
But...did she pay the ‘rental’ fee for the box? There is no mention of that. Don’t you have to pay for this sort of storage box and if you don’t then they have a right to confiscate it?
Or..was the box a courtesy thing because she had an account there?
This needs clarifying.
You’re correct. Even if your house is paid off you still pay annual rent to the government in the form of property taxes as long as you own it...no one actually owns anything.
Like our parents and grandparents learned in the 1930’s, DON’T TRUST THE BANKS!!!!
Safety deposit boxes are a really dumb idea. Just when you may need whatever is stored in one, it probably will not be available. If you die unexpectedly, guess who gets first access??? Not your heirs.
Buy a big, heavy gun safe and store your valuables at home under your control.
I wondered the same thing. It’s sloppy reporting to omit this key fact.
Just stealing the property ordinary Americans won’t do.
IIRC, from my days as a banker, safe deposit boxes are bank property rented to customers who are charged an annual fee. When a customer (or executor of an estate) closes the account, they are notified to clear out the box and return the keys. If the fees aren’t paid and the request to vacate honored, many states allow for the dispensation of the rental space’s contents to satisfy the back rent after the notice of sale has been publicized.
It’d be no different for a customer of “RENTaSPACE” who fails to pay their rent.
Well, this is certainly interesting.
They have $88.00 in my property and $1250.00 in my deceased mother’s property. My mother and I live at the same address - wonder why Countrywide (who carries my mortgage) and Prudential couldn’t be bothered simply to mail a check.
I thought safe deposit boxes were rented, so someone had to be paying for it, if so how could it be considered abandoned?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.