The New York Office of Unclaimed Funds ("OUF") has published a new proposed administrative rule relating to “electronic contact” for public comment. Under New York law, the dormancy period for abandoned property is generally terminated and reset by owner-generated “contact” with the holder.  The OUF’s proposed regulation puts in writing something that most unclaimed property holders are already doing – equating various types of electronic events as owner "contact" for purposes of the Abandoned Property Law. The new regulation expressly provides that “[e]vidence of electronic ..read more

 First Reports Due in 2023 The new Unclaimed Property Act for the Canadian province of New Brunswick received proclamation on January 1, 2022, bringing it into effect.  The enactment means that New Brunswick joins three other provinces -- Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec -- in having custodial unclaimed property laws similar to those in the United States.   The Act sets a reporting deadline of March 31 for property due as of the end of the preceding calendar year, with the first report under the Act will be due March 31, 2023.  There is a three year dormancy perio ..read more

On November 5, 2021 Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed Wisconsin Act 87 into law, which adopts a version of the 2016 Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.  In a departure from some versions of the 2016 uniform act, the Wisconsin legislation keeps the old law's general 5 year dormancy period for unspecified general intangible property as well as the previous law's business-to-business exemption.   Some of the changes imposed by the new legislation are as follows: the dormancy period for money orders is shortened from 7 years to 5 years; the definition of "property" subject to the Ac ..read more

 Early Attention May Improve the Bottom Line Posts emphasizing the need for companies to take unclaimed property laws seriously are increasingly common. Most of these articles, however, focus on the potential ills arising from lax unclaimed property law compliance. And justifiably so. The potential downsides are significant:  disruptive audits, excessive estimated liability assessments, and harsh statutory penalties. But there is a more optimistic rationale as well. Determining the causes of unclaimed property and taking steps to avoid or promptly rectify tho ..read more

* probably Washington D.C. has become the latest jurisdiction to adopt a version of the 2016 Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, by virtue of an Emergency Act approved by the Mayor on August 23rd.  For most property types, a three-year dormancy period applies (as with prior law), and the revised Act contains many of the features of the 2016 Uniform Act, including:  securities are deemed abandoned three years after the second instance of a communication being returned by the Post Office as undeliverable (a change from previous law); there is a specific dormancy period for "stored-value ..read more

On April 20, North Dakota became the most recent state to enact a version of the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (2016).  The new law, which takes effect on July 1 does not overhaul the state's general three year dormancy period, but does provide useful clarity on the reporting or remittance of many property types.  Under the new legislation: securities are deemed abandoned three years after the second instance of a communication being returned by the Post Office as undeliverable (a change from previous law that required unclaimed distributions); there is a specific dormancy ..read more

Welcome to Unclaimed Property 101 - An Introduction to Unclaimed Property.  For regular unclaimed property professionals, this is just a refresher.  Really, these posts are intended for you if you are: An accounting or finance professional who has just been told that you will be responsible for unclaimed property compliance; An in-house counsel who is dealing with a legal/compliance issue relating to your company's unclaimed property responsibilities; The unlucky recipient of an audit notice from a state or private third-party auditing firm; A reporter looking for an unclaimed prope ..read more

 As if there weren't enough reasons for businesses and individuals to proactively search for and recover their unclaimed property, add increased information security to the list.... According to an article by Wes Venteicher in The Sacramento Bee, the California State Controller's Office, Unclaimed Property Division was recently the subject of a "spear phishing" attack, which may have exposed personally identifying information and unclaimed property details for more than 9,000 potential claimants.  According to the article, the hacker posed as an organization that the Controller's Off ..read more

In most companies and financial institutions, unclaimed property compliance is treated as an ancillary operational responsibility unrelated to the “business” of the firm.  After all, as with many regulatory obligations, unclaimed property compliance is not a profit-generating activity.  That said, there is the possibility that paying prompt attention to certain unclaimed property law requirements (or, at least, unclaimed property concepts) can make good business sense and maybe even help the bottom line.  One place where increased attention can pay off is customer “due diligence ..read more

The Delaware Office of Unclaimed Property recently announced that its wire and ACH payment instructions are changing in advance of the upcoming March 1, 2021 annual reporting deadline.  Holders planning to remit payment via these means should contact the OUP's Receipts and Wires unit at  DOF_holderreceiptsquestions@delaware.gov for updated information.     ..read more