Lingering Safe Deposit Customer

Question:

I have a customer who comes in to the safe deposit vault every day and spends nearly an hour in the viewing booth with his box. This has gone on for over a month. Do you think this is odd? Do we need to be concerned? For one thing, we only have a couple of viewing booths, so this causes things to get a little jammed up. Would it be wrong for us to ask the customer what he's doing that makes him come so regularly and stay so long?

Answer:

As a reminder -- the institution owns the box but the customer rents the space inside of it. What the customer keeps in the box is generally none of the institution's business. Exceptions to this fact may involve safety issues -- for example, the storage of:

Hazardous materials, including explosives;

Uncremated human or animal remains;

Loaded firearms; and

Drugs.

All of these items have been found by law enforcement personnel serving search warrants, and by institution personnel drilling a box for non-payment of rent. Create a policy and make its language part of your safety deposit box contract that specifies that the customer may not keep any of the listed items in the box. Add any items to this list that you feel are appropriate -- and that your legal counsel agrees with. Then instruct your personnel to review this list with all applicants before they sign the contract/signature card.

Regarding the time your customer spends in the viewing area -- I don't see any reasonable way that you can limit access without violating your own contract. You might, however, explain to the customer that his actions are interfering with normal branch operations -- and suggest that he schedule his access to coincide with the branch's "quiet" times.

First published on BankersOnline.com 2/5/01