Waconia family says bank closed account, sent money to the state without notifying them

WACONIA, Minn. (FOX 9) - A 13-year-old Waconia girl says she is disappointed and upset after a bank closed her savings account and sent the hundreds of dollars in it to the state of Minnesota.

Jennifer Luedloff and her husband opened a savings account for their daughter, Paige, when she was still a baby. Paige is 13 years old now, and over the years, they made deposits to the Old National Bank account on birthdays and holidays, and after she won hundreds of dollars in an ice fishing competition.

They recently received a letter from the bank saying the account had not been touched in three years and because of inactivity, it was closed and the $500 in it was sent to the state of Minnesota. The Luedloffs tell FOX 9 they were never notified that the account was in jeopardy of closing and now need to wait months to hopefully get the money back from the state using their unclaimed property website.

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"You work hard for your money and then they just take it," said Jennifer.

In an email, Old National Bank tells FOX 9 that legally, they can't disclose client information. They added their rules and regulations state savings accounts are considered dormant if there's no activity in 36 months. State law mandates those funds be sent to the state as unclaimed property.

Paige says the bank did offer her a $100 gift card to Target and, while the gesture is nice, she just wants her hard-earned money back. 

"It was a lot less than all of my money in my bank account and I worked harder for the money in my bank account," said Paige.