Maine § 3751. - Right to open box; lien on contents

§ 3751.. Right to open box; lien on contents

Whenever the amount due for the use of any safe or box in the vaults of any bank or safe deposit company has not been paid for one year, the bank or company may, at the expiration of that period, notify the person in whose name the safe or box stands on its books, by a notice in writing in a securely closed, postpaid, registered letter directed to that person at that person's post office address as recorded upon the books of the bank or company, that if the amount then due for the use of the safe or box is not paid within 60 days from the date of the notice, the bank or company will then cause the safe or box to be opened in the manner provided. At the expiration of 60 days after the mailing of the notice, the bank or company may then cause the safe or box to be opened in the presence of any officer or branch manager of the bank or company, and of a notary public not an officer or in the employ of the bank or company, and the contents of the safe or box must then be sealed up by the notary public in a package and a certificate of the sealing must be indorsed on the package, signed by the notary and attested by the notary's seal, and the package must be distinctly marked with the name and address of the person in whose name the safe or box stands upon the books of the bank or company, and the estimated value of the contents of the package. The package must then be placed in one of the general safes or boxes of the bank or company, and must be held subject to redemption by the owner of the package, who shall pay the rent due for the safe or box and all costs and damages attending the opening of the safe or box, together with reasonable charges for the custody of the package by the bank or company, and the bank or company has a lien upon the package to secure the payment of the rent, damages and charges.   [RR 2023, c. 2, Pt. C, §92 (COR).]

The contents of an opened safe or box, if unclaimed, must be disposed of according to Title 33, chapter 45.   [PL 2019, c. 498, §5 (AMD).]