To actions brought to recover money or other property deposited with any bank, banker, trust company, building and loan association, or savings and loan society or evidenced by a certificate issued by an industrial loan company or credit union there is no limitation. This section shall not apply to banks, bankers, trust companies, building and loan associations, industrial loan companies, credit unions, and savings and loan societies which have become insolvent and are in process of liquidation and in such cases the statute of limitations shall be deemed to have commenced to run from the beginning of the process of liquidation; provided, however, nothing herein contained shall be construed so as to relieve any stockholder of any banking corporation or trust company from stockholders' liability as shall at any time, be provided by law.
§ 348.Recovery of Money Or Other Property Deposited With Bank, Banker, Trust Company, Etc.
Title 2. Of the Time of Commencing Civil Actions · Chapter 3. The Time of Commencing Actions Other Than for the Recovery of Real Property · Last amended 1955 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 348 places no limitation on actions to recover money or other property deposited with a bank, trust company, or similar institution, except that the clock starts running once the institution becomes insolvent and enters liquidation.
Full Text of § 348
Plain-English Summary
Section 348 exempts an entire category of claim from any deadline at all: actions to recover money or property deposited with a bank, banker, trust company, building and loan association, savings and loan society, or evidenced by a certificate from an industrial loan company or credit union. As a general matter, there is no limitation on bringing that action.
The one exception is insolvency. Once one of those institutions becomes insolvent and enters liquidation, the statute of limitations is deemed to start running from the beginning of that liquidation process. The section also makes clear it doesn’t relieve a stockholder of a banking corporation or trust company from whatever stockholders’ liability the law imposes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a deadline to recover money deposited with a bank in California?
Generally no — § 348 places no limitation on that action, unless the institution has become insolvent and entered liquidation, in which case the clock starts running from the beginning of the liquidation.
Does § 348 excuse a stockholder from liability for a failed bank?
No. The section says it doesn’t relieve any stockholder of a banking corporation or trust company from whatever stockholders’ liability the law otherwise imposes.
Amendment History
Amended by Stats. 1955, Ch. 208.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: no statute of limitations bank deposit California