A bank may treat an unpaid safety deposit box as abandoned and, after notice and other conditions, open it, inventory the contents, and later sell or re-lease the box and handle the contents as this section allows.
§327. Abandonment of safety deposit box A. A safety deposit box leased from any bank shall be deemed abandoned and the bank may remove the contents of such safety deposit box, if the rental therefor remains unpaid, all as provided under Subsection B of this Section, or pursuant to the terms of the safety deposit box contract, or as otherwise permitted by law. Only the safety deposit box itself, and not the contents, may be deemed abandoned as provided herein. B. If the safety deposit box rental is delinquent for six months, the bank after sixty days' notice by mail addressed to the lessee at his address as shown on the safety deposit box contract may, if the rent is not paid within the time specified in the notice, open the box in the presence of two employees of the bank and a notary public who shall make an inventory of the contents of the box and place such contents in a sealed envelope or other container in the name of the lessee. The bank shall then send notice to the administrator of the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act of 1997 for inclusion in their database and listing on their website that the safety deposit box has been abandoned and that the bank is holding the listed contents thereof. The notice shall include the lessee's name and last known address. C. After a bank has entered an abandoned safety deposit box and removed the contents thereof, it shall then hold such contents in the name of the lessee subject to a lien and privilege for the unpaid rent, the costs of opening the box and making the inventory of and storing its contents, and any other costs, expenses or other amounts as provided in the lease or by law. If such amounts are not paid in full within one year from the date the safety deposit box became abandoned, the bank may sell all or any part of the contents by public, private, or judicial sale in accordance with Louisiana law and the terms of the safety deposit box contract, and the bank may also dispose of any unsalable contents in accordance with R.S. 6:327.1. After satisfaction of the bank's lien, any remaining proceeds shall be subject to the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act of 1997, R.S. 9:151 et seq. The bank may, but is not required to, treat the remaining proceeds as presumed abandoned and turn them over to the administrator of the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act without having to wait for the passage of time delays set forth in R.S. 9:155. D. After a bank has entered an abandoned safety deposit box and removed the contents thereof, the bank may immediately re-lease the abandoned safety deposit box without accounting to the lessee, and need not apply any subsequent rental payments received therefor to the payment of any amounts owed by the former lessee. Acts 1989, No. 357, §1; Acts 1997, No. 658, §2; Acts 2000, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 135, §1, eff. July 1, 2000; Acts 2020, No. 236, §1.