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Article 2. Savings Accounts of California Financial Code >> Division 2. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 2.

Except for savings accounts issued in marketable or bearer form, savings accounts shall be represented only by the account of each savings account holder on the books of the association, and the accounts or any interest in the accounts shall be transferable only on the books of the association and upon proper written application, and acceptance by the association of the transferee as a holder upon terms approved by the board of directors.
(a) Upon the filing with an association by the savings account holder of record as shown by the books of the association, or by the holder's legal representative, of an affidavit to the effect that the evidence of account, if any, has been lost or destroyed, and that the account has not been pledged or assigned in whole or in part, the association shall issue a new evidence of account, if applicable, in the name of the holder of record.
  (b) The new evidence of account may state that it is issued in lieu of the one lost or destroyed and that the association shall not be liable for the loss or destruction of the original evidence of account.
  (c) The association may require an indemnification or a bond in an amount it deems sufficient to indemnify the association against any loss which might result from the issuance of a new evidence of account under this section.
(a) No association shall, directly or indirectly, for the opening or increasing of any savings account, give, sell, dispose of, or permit the giving, selling, or disposition of, for any one opening or increase anything having a cost or value in excess of the amount authorized by the commissioner by regulation.
  (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) the commissioner is authorized to impose by regulation restrictions on associations, relating to the distribution and advertising of giveaways, equivalent to those imposed on federal associations doing business in this state.
(a) A troubled savings association may not accept funds obtained, directly or indirectly, by or through any deposit broker for deposit into one or more accounts.
  (b) Any renewal of a savings account in any troubled savings association and any rollover of any amount on deposit in such a savings account shall be treated as an acceptance of funds by the troubled savings association for purposes of subdivision (a).
  (c) The commissioner may, on a case-by-case basis and upon application by a savings association, waive the applicability of subdivision (a) upon a finding that the acceptance of these deposits does not constitute an unsafe or unsound practice with respect to that savings association.
  (d) The commissioner may impose, by regulation or order, such additional restrictions on the acceptance of broker deposits by any troubled savings association as the commissioner may determine to be appropriate.
  (e) For purposes of this section:
  (1) "Deposit broker," except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2), means either of the following:
  (A) Any person engaged in (i) the business of placing deposits, or facilitating the placement of deposits, of third parties with financial institutions or (ii) the business of placing deposits with financial institutions for the purpose of selling interests in those deposits to third parties.
  (B) An agent or trustee who establishes a savings account to facilitate a business arrangement with a financial institution to use the proceeds of the account to fund a prearranged loan.
  (2) Subject to paragraph (3), "deposit broker" does not include any of the following:
  (A) A savings association with respect to funds placed with that savings association.
  (B) An employee of a savings association with respect to funds placed with the employing savings association.
  (C) A trust department of a savings association, if the trust in question has not been established for the primary purpose of placing funds with financial institutions.
  (D) The trustee of a pension or other employee benefit plan, with respect to funds of the plan.
  (E) A person acting as a plan administrator or an investment adviser in connection with a pension plan or other employee benefit plan, provided that that person is performing managerial functions with respect to the plan.
  (F) The trustee of a testamentary account.
  (G) The trustee of an irrevocable trust (other than one described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1), as long as the trust in question has not been established for the primary purpose of placing funds with financial institutions.
  (H) A trustee or custodian of a pension or profitsharing plan qualified under Section 401(d) or 403(a) of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
  (I) An agent or nominee whose primary purpose is not the placement of funds with financial institutions.
  (3) The exceptions specified in paragraph (2) do not apply to, and the term "deposit broker" includes, any savings association, and any employee of any savings association, that engages, directly or indirectly, in the solicitation of deposits by offering rates of interest (with respect to those deposits) which are significantly higher than the prevailing rates of interest on deposits offered by other associations and federal associations in the savings association's normal market area.
  (4) "Employee" means any person meeting all of the following criteria:
  (A) The person is employed exclusively by the savings association.
  (B) The person's compensation is primarily in the form of a salary.
  (C) The person does not share that compensation with a deposit broker.
  (D) The person's office space or place of business is used exclusively for the benefit of the savings association which employs the person.
  (5) "Troubled savings association" means any savings association which does not meet the minimum capital requirements applicable with respect to that savings association.
(a) For the purposes of this section:
  (1) "Account" means withdrawable or repurchasable shares, investment certificates, deposits, or savings accounts as defined in Section 561.2, 561.16, 561.28, 561.29, 561.42, or 563.6 of Title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations pursuant to which the account holder from time to time may make deposits and effect withdrawals.
  (2) "Account holder" means a person who is identified on the signature card for an account, or in the absence of a signature card, a person who has an interest in an account which is reflected on the records of the association for that account to whom statements of account or other notices are normally given, or the agent of such person.
  (3) "Charges" means those charges which an association may, from time to time, impose on an account in the normal course of business in the operation of the account and, does not include:
  (A) Charges which may be imposed for extraordinary services furnished at the specific request of the account holder.
  (B) Charges or amounts required to be disclosed to the depositor pursuant to the Truth-in-Lending Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1601 et seq.) and Regulation Z (12 C.F.R. 226.1 et seq.), as amended.
  (4) "Customer" means one or more natural persons.
  (5) "Debt" means an interest-bearing obligation or an obligation that by its terms is payable in installments, which has not been reduced to judgment, arising from an extension of credit to a natural person primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, and does not mean a charge for savings and loan services, for a debit for uncollected funds, for dishonored checks cashed for a customer, or for an overdraft account imposed by an association on a savings account.
  (b) An association is limited in exercising any setoff for a debt claimed to be owed to the association by a customer in that a setoff shall not result in an aggregate balance of less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) as shown on the records of the association for all accounts maintained by a customer with the association or any of its branches.
  (c) Not later than the day following the exercise of any setoff with respect to an account for any debt claimed to be owed to the association by a customer, the association shall deliver to each customer personally or send by first-class mail postage prepaid to the address of each customer as shown on the records of the association a written notice in at least 10-point type containing the following:
  (1) A statement that the association has set off all or part of a debt against the customer's account, identifying the account, and giving the respective balances before and after the setoff.
  (2) A statement identifying the debt setoff against the account and giving the respective balances due before and after the setoff.
  (3) A statement that if the customer claims that the debt has been paid or is not now owing, or that the funds in the account consist of moneys expressly exempt pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 703.010) of Division 2 of Title 9 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and listed in the notice, the customer may execute and return the notice to the association by mail at the address shown or personally to the branch where the customer's account is maintained not later than 20 days after the date of mailing or personal delivery.
  (4) A statement that (A) if the notice is executed and returned, the association may file an action in court to collect the debt, (B) that if a lawsuit is filed, the customer will be notified and have an opportunity to appear and defend, and (C) that if the association is successful, the customer will be liable for court costs, and attorney's fees, if the debt so provides.
  (5) A response form in at least 10-point type containing substantially the following:
"The debt described in the Notice of Setoff received from the savings and loan association is__ isnot__ my debt or the debt of another person in whose name the account is maintained. "I claim that the debt: _____ has been paid. _____ is not now owing. _____ is not subject to setoff because the money in the account is: _____ Paid earnings (CCP 704.070) _____ Proceeds from execution sale of or insurance for loss of a motor vehicle
  (CCP 704.010) _____ Proceeds from execution sale of household furnishings or other personal effects (CCP 704.020) _____ Relocation benefits (CCP704.180) _____ Life insurance proceeds (CCP 704.100) _____ Disability and health insurance benefits (CCP 704.130) _____ Workers' compensation benefits (CCP 704.160) _____ Unemployment or strike benefits (CCP 704.120) _____ Retirement benefits including, but not limited to, social security benefits
  (CCP 704.080, 704.110, 704.115) _____ Public assistance benefits including welfare payments and supplemental security income (SSI) or charitable aid (CCP 704.170) _____ Proceeds from sale of or insurance for damage or destruction of a dwelling
  (CCP 704.720, 704.960) _____ Proceeds from execution sale of or insurance for loss of tools of a trade
  (CCP 704.060) _____ Award of damages for personal injury
  (CCP 704.140) or wrongful death (CCP 704.150) _____ Financial aid paid by an institution of higher education to a student for expenses while attending school (CCP 704.190) I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed at ________________, California on City or County ______ Date Signed: _____________________________"
(d) If the response form described in subdivision (c) executed by the customer is received by the association not later than 20 days after the date of mailing or personal delivery of the written notice, the amount of the setoff for any debt claimed to be owed to the association by a customer, and any service charges resulting from the setoff, shall be reversed and shall be credited to the customer's account not later than the end of the third business day following receipt of the executed response form.
  (e) The limitations provided in this section do not apply to accounts in which the association has a security interest expressed by a written contract as collateral for the debt owing to the association by the customer.
  (f) The limitations provided in this section do not apply when a customer previously has authorized an association in writing to periodically debit an account as the agreed method of payment of the debt.
  (g) The limitations provided in this section shall apply only to the exercise by an association of a setoff with respect to debts claimed to be owing to it by customers on or after July 1, 1976.
  (h) Nothing in this section shall prejudice a person's right to assert exemptions under Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 703.010) of Division 2 of Title 9 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, or to assert a claim or defense as to the validity of the debt, in a judicial proceeding.
Notice to an association or federal association of an adverse claim to a savings account of, or to personal property held for the account of, any person shall be disregarded, and the association or federal association, notwithstanding the notice, shall honor withdrawal applications and shall pay withdrawals and interest to the person or persons to whose credit the account stands or shall deliver the property to or upon the order of the person for whose account the property is held, without any liability on the part of the association or federal association; subject, however, to the exceptions provided in subdivisions (a) and (b):
  (a) If an adverse claimant delivers to the association or federal association at the office at which the account is carried or the property held an affidavit of the claimant stating that of the claimant's own knowledge the person to whose credit the deposit stands or for whose account the property is held is a fiduciary for the adverse claimant and that the claimant has reason to believe the fiduciary is about to misappropriate the account or the property, and stating the facts upon which the claim of fiduciary relationship and the belief are founded, the association or federal association shall refuse to pay withdrawals or interest on the account and shall refuse to deliver the property for a period of not more than three court days (including the day of delivery) from the date that the association or federal association received the adverse claimant's affidavit, without liability on its part and without liability for the sufficiency or truth of the facts alleged in the affidavit.
  (b) If at any time, either before, after, or in the absence of the filing of an affidavit by the adverse claimant, the adverse claimant procures and serves upon the association or federal association at the office at which the account is carried or the property held a restraining order, injunction, or other appropriate order against the association or federal association from a court of competent jurisdiction in an action in which the adverse claimant and all persons in whose names the account stands or for whose account the property is held are the parties, the association or federal association shall comply with the order or injunction, without liability on its part.
  (c) The provisions of this section shall be applicable even though the name of the person appearing on the books to whose credit the account stands or for whose account the property is held is modified by a qualifying or descriptive term such as "agent," "trustee," or other word or phrase indicating that the person may hold the account or property in a fiduciary capacity.
  (d) Nothing in the California Multiple-Party Accounts Law contained in Part 2 (commencing with Section 5100) of Division 5 of the Probate Code limits the applicability of this section.
Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit an association or federal association from issuing tenancy in common, community property, and other types of savings accounts authorized by law.
If any attachment is levied upon any savings account or any other property maintained with an association or federal association, a copy of the writ and notice of attachment shall be served upon the manager or any other officer of the association or federal association. Service shall be made at the office or branch at which the savings account or other property is maintained, if the office or branch is in operation at the time of the service or, if the office, agency, or branch is not in operation at the time of service, at the home office of the association or federal association. Writs and notices of attachment which are not so served are not effective as to any savings account or other property maintained with the association or federal association, irrespective of any other provision of law relating to service of attachments.