STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

ALBERTA STEPHENS, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 89-6765

) DEPARTMENT OF BANKING & FINANCE, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

This matter was heard by William R. Dorsey, Jr., the Hearing Officer designated by the Division of Administrative Hearings, on March 21, 1990, in West Palm Beach, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: John W. Carroll, Esquire

Post Office Box 31794

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33420

For Respondent: Eric Mendelsohn, Esquire

Department of Banking & Finance

111 Georgia Avenue

West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES

The issue is whether Alberta Stephens is entitled to receive the proceeds of bank account from the First National Bank in Palm Beach County in the amount of $663.33 which had been forwarded to the Comptroller as abandoned property.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

At the hearing, the Department of Banking & Finance introduced two exhibits. The first was a letter from Southeast Bank dated March 20, 1990, stating that it has been unable to locate signature cards for the subject account because they had been destroyed in the bank's normal retention schedule. The second was the remittance report of unclaimed money items which the bank had forwarded to the Office of the Comptroller in January, 1982, which includes an account for Alberta Stephens. The parties waived the opportunity to file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. On January 18, 1982, the First National Bank in Palm Beach submitted a remittance report of unclaimed money items to the Office of the Comptroller. It listed, as item 10, an account which had been maintained by Alberta Stephens in the amount of $663.33. Alberta Stephens filed a claim to that money on March

   20, 1989. In the interim the First National Bank had been acquired by Southeast Bank. In processing the claim, the Department requested the bank to provide it with a copy of the signature control card for the account. Southeast Bank could not do so, because under its retention schedule, all banking records were destroyed seven years after the account had been closed by sending the money to the Comptroller with the remittance report of unclaimed money items on January 18, 1982.

   
   

2. Ms. Stephens is an elderly black woman. She was unable to produce copies of any deposit receipts or checks demonstrating ownership of the account. At the time the account was opened, depositors were not required to give their social security number to banks, so there is no way to trace the account to Ms. Stephens from documentary evidence.

   
   

3. Ms. Stephens did produce the testimony of Preston L. Tillman, a real estate broker in Palm Beach County. Ms. Stephens had purchased income property from Mr. Tillman. He collected the rent on that property on Ms. Stephens behalf. He personally took Ms. Stephens to the First National Bank in Palm Beach County so that she could open an account in which to deposit the rents. He was present at the bank when the account was opened by Ms. Stephens. Ultimately, Ms. Stephens sold the rental property, and Mr. Tillman had no more contact with her.

   
   

4. The evidence in this case is rather sparse, due to the passage of time. The evidence does demonstrate that Ms. Stephens had an account at the bank, and that there is no conflicting claim to that deposit. The testimony of Mr. Tillman, that he took Ms. Stephens to the bank so that she could open an account there, is accepted as adequate independent evidence of Ms. Stephens' ownership of the account.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

   The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over this matter.

   Sections 120.57(1) and 717.124(1), Florida Statutes.

   
   

5. Based on the record, it is more probable than not that Ms. Stephens is the owner of the $663.33 which had been left on deposit with the First National Bank in Palm Beach County. As the owner of the account, Ms. Stephens is entitled to receive from the Office of the Comptroller the proceeds of the account under the Florida Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, Chapter 717.126, Florida Statutes.

RECOMMENDATION

Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the claim of Alberta Stephens to the $663.33 in unclaimed

money items be upheld, and that the Comptroller deliver that money to Alberta Stephens.

DONE AND ENTERED in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, this 30th day of March, 1990.

WILLIAM R. DORSEY, JR.

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building

1230 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 30th day of March, 1990.

COPIES FURNISHED:

John W. Carroll, Esquire Post Office Box 31794

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33420

Eric Mendelsohn, Esquire Department of Banking & Finance

111 Georgia Avenue

West Palm Beach, Florida 33401

Honorable Gerald Lewis, Comptroller Department of Banking & Finance

The Capitol

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0350

William G. Reeves, General Counsel Department of Banking & Finance The Capitol

Plaza Level, Room 1302 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0350

Docket for Case No: 89-006765

Orders for Case No: 89-006765