Investar Bank, N.A., etc. v. Strickland, [Ms. CL-2024-0709, Feb. 14, 2025] __ So. 3d __ (Ala. Civ. App. 2025). The court (Moore, P.J.; Edwards, Hanson, Fridy, and Lewis, JJ., concur) reverses the Sumter Circuit Court’s judgment awarding Edna Strickland damages against Investar Bank, N.A. (“the Bank”) in a breach-of-contract action arising from alleged nonpayment of a certificate of deposit.
The court concludes that Edna’s claim on the CD was barred by the three-year statute of limitations set out in § 7-4-111, Ala. Code 1975. Section 7-4-111 provides as follows in regard to accrual:
“[U]pon the earlier of: (1) the date demand for payment is made to the bank, but if the [certificate of deposit] has a due date and the bank is not required to pay before that date, the cause of action accrues when a demand for payment is in effect and the due date has passed; (2) the [later] of: a. the due date of the [certificate of deposit] established in the bank’s last written notice of renewal sent pursuant to [Ala. Code 1975, §] 5-5A-36; or b. four years after the last written communication from the bank recognizing the bank’s obligation under the [certificate of deposit]; or (3) the last day of the taxable year for which the owner of the [certificate of deposit] last reported interest income earned on the [certificate of deposit] on either a federal or state tax return.”
Ms. *4. The court notes that “[t]he parties stipulated that Edna had last reported interest income on the CD on her federal or state income-tax return for the tax year 1990,” and concludes her action on the CD was time barred “[b]ecause § 7-4-111 provides that the cause of action accrues ‘upon the earlier’ of the listed events, and December 31, 1990, is the earliest of all the possible accrual dates, that date is considered the date Edna’s cause of action for enforcement of the CD accrued.” Ms. *6.