Borden Consulting Group founder Jennifer Borden was included in Boston Magazine’s inaugural list of the Top Lawyers in Greater Boston. Similar to other Boston Magazine lists, including Top Doctors and Top Dentists, honorees were selected by their peers. Borden was named a Top Lawyer in the Tax category. About Boston Magazine For more than 40 years, Boston Magazine’s experienced writers, editors, and designers have captured all sides of the city with award-winning and insightful writing, and groundbreaking reporting and design. Their expository featu ..read more

Borden Consulting Group’s Jennifer Borden recently helped provide some insight on why it can be so difficult for individuals trying to file unclaimed property cases for deceased relatives in this interview with NBC Chicago. You can watch the entire interview here: Unclaimed And Forgotten: More Than $3.5 Billion Sits in Illinois’ Coffers, Awaiting Return to Rightful Owners The post BCG’s Jennifer Borden provides insight on Illinois unclaimed property case for NBC Chicago appeared first on Borden Consulting Group ..read more

On Friday, July 23, 2021, a federal district court in California denied the federal government’s motion to dismiss an individual’s lawsuit seeking the return of property held in one of the safe deposit boxes seized by the FBI in its raid.  The plaintiff, identified by a fictitious name, alleged that the government intended to refuse to return his or her property unless he or she waived their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.  Prosecutors argued in part that it would be “reckless” for the government to return property to an anonymous plaintiff because the government wo ..read more

In early June, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of Tyson Timbs, finding that the state’s seizure of the convicted drug dealer’s infamous Land Rover amounted to an excessive fine, which was therefore unconstitutional.  We first brought the Timbs v. Indiana[1] case to the attention of the unclaimed property community in April 2019, drawing parallels between forfeited property and the use of estimation as a means to penalize holders in unclaimed property audits, after the Supreme Court of the United States held that the protection against excessive fines embodied in the Eighth Amend ..read more

Borden Consulting Group’s Jennifer Borden joined NPR’s “Planet Money” recently to discuss the perils of losing your investments to escheatment. Hosts Audrey Quinn and Kenny Malone discuss the real-life story of Walter Schramm, who lost a small fortune to the state when his investments were escheated because of inactivity. In 1995, Schramm bought about $6,000 worth of stock in Amazon.com through E*TRADE. He let the investment sit for 20 years and never once logged into his E*TRADE account. Twenty years later, when he logged into his E*TRADE account, it was empty. He was told to contact the Dela ..read more

This article originally appeared in the January Newsletter of the Securities Transfer Association and is re-published here with the consent of the STA.  It has been updated to reflect the April 7, 2020 enactment of SB-0125.  by Jennifer C. Borden On April 7, SB-0125 was signed by the Governor of Michigan, clarifying the dormancy periods that apply to property held by owners who are members of the United States Armed Forces.  Michigan’s Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (the “Act”) was amended in 2010 and generally shortened the dormancy periods on most property types from five (5 ..read more

by Jennifer C. Borden & Jenna L. Bentley On December 6, 2019, AT&T filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware alleging violations of its rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, and violations of the Ex Post Facto Clause of the U.S. Constitution.  The constitutional issues raised by AT&T are similar to those most recently raised by Univar, Inc. in the complaint it filed last December.  These issues continue to plague holders undergoing unclaimed property audits by the State of Delaware.  Without much ne ..read more