Hi All,

The bank has business dormant account that the bank would like to close by charging a fee for the balance in the account. The account has less than $15.00 in it and the bank has made attempts to contact the business (both by phone and by mail, which was returned to the bank). Can the bank charge a dormant fee on a business account to close out the account? I believe that dormant fee accounts are state regulated and I am unable to find anything regarding it for the state of Ohio.

Is this a fee that is disclosed at account opening? Is this a fee that is applied equally across all accounts?

I've quickly looked over the holder guide for Ohio and the Ohio regulations for Unclaimed Property and I can't find anything prohibiting a dormant account or escheat fee: http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/169

However, auditors may take exception to a fee being imposed simply to avoid unclaimed property reporting especially if it is one made up on the spot and not applied equally to all accounts. Many states frown upon fees put in place simply to reduce reporting requirements also.