STATE OF NEW YORK
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1881
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 13, 2017
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Introduced by M. of A. FARRELL -- (at request of the State Comptroller)
-- read once and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
AN ACT to amend the abandoned property law, in relation to conforming
language relating to the preliminary reporting requirement for
unclaimed amounts of money or other property; precluding abandonment
based upon undeliverable mail; authorizing the accrual of interest on
life insurance policies after payment of abandoned property to the
state comptroller; increasing the minimum amount of an abandoned prop-
erty claim; increasing the threshold for certified mailings; recogniz-
ing electronic contact by an owner as written contact; to amend the
abandoned property law and the surrogate's court procedure act, in
relation to authorizing the payment of interest on monies received
directly from surrogate's court and held by the state comptroller as
abandoned property; and to amend the state finance law, in relation to
annual reports to the state comptroller of custodian of court funds
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 402 of the aban-
2 doned property law is amended to read as follows:
3 (a) that a report of unclaimed amounts of money or other property held
4 or owing by it [has been made to] will be prepared for the state comp-
5 troller and that a list of the names of the person or persons appearing
6 from the records of such corporation to be entitled thereto is on file
7 and open to public inspection at its principal office or place of busi-
8 ness in any city, village or county where any such abandoned property is
9 payable;
10 § 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 501 of the abandoned
11 property law, as amended by chapter 61 of the laws of 1989, is amended
12 to read as follows:
13 [(c) Notice regarding such wages has been sent by the corporation or
14 fiduciary, via first class mail, to such resident at his last known
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06617-01-7
A. 1881 2
1 address and such notice has been returned to the corporation or fiduci-
2 ary by the postal authorities for inability to locate such resident.]
3 § 3. Subdivision 1-a of section 1315 of the abandoned property law, as
4 amended by section 2 of part II of chapter 57 of the laws of 2010, is
5 amended to read as follows:
6 1-a. Any amount representing outstanding checks issued on and after
7 July first, nineteen hundred seventy-four [in payment for goods or for
8 services, and owing in this state,] or held by or on behalf of any
9 corporation (other than a public corporation), joint stock company,
10 individual, association of two or more individuals, committee or busi-
11 ness trust in this state, and which has remained unclaimed by the owner
12 of such amount for three years, shall be deemed abandoned property.
13 § 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 1405 of the abandoned
14 property law, as amended by section 13 of part R of chapter 85 of the
15 laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
16 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no owner of abandoned
17 property shall be entitled to receive interest on account of such aban-
18 doned property from and after the date a payment of such abandoned prop-
19 erty is hereafter made to the state comptroller pursuant to this chapter
20 or any law relating to abandoned property, whether or not [he] the owner
21 was entitled to interest on such property prior to such date, except
22 that interest at the overpayment rate set by the commissioner of taxa-
23 tion and finance pursuant to subsection (j) of section six hundred nine-
24 ty-seven of the tax law, less one percentage point, shall accrue to
25 abandoned property hereafter paid to the state comptroller under the
26 following provisions of this chapter, for the first five years such
27 property is held by [him] the state comptroller:
28 (i) paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section three hundred of this
29 chapter; or
30 (ii) subdivision one of section four hundred of this chapter; or
31 (iii) paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section six hundred of this
32 chapter; or
33 (iv) paragraph (c) of subdivision one of section seven hundred of this
34 chapter; or
35 (v) subdivision one of section ten hundred of this chapter; or
36 (vi) subdivision one of section two thousand two hundred twenty-two of
37 the surrogate's court procedure act.
38 § 5. The opening paragraph of paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of
39 section 1406 of the abandoned property law, as amended by chapter 815 of
40 the laws of 1963, is amended to read as follows:
41 Claim may be filed with the state comptroller for any abandoned prop-
42 erty amounting to over [three] twenty dollars, including any claim to a
43 security delivered to the state comptroller on or after November first,
44 nineteen hundred ninety-one, with a fair market value exceeding twenty
45 dollars at the time of claim heretofore paid to the state or hereafter
46 paid or delivered to the state comptroller pursuant to this chapter,
47 except abandoned property heretofore paid to the state pursuant to
48 § 6. Subdivision 2 of section 1422 of the abandoned property law, as
49 added by section 6 of part P of chapter 62 of the laws of 2003, is
50 amended to read as follows:
51 2. Where notice is required by subdivision one of this section, each
52 holder shall, with respect to property listed in such report whose value
53 is in excess of [one] three thousand dollars, send a second written
54 notice to the owner by certified mail, return receipt requested not less
55 than sixty days prior to the applicable reporting date for such
56 unclaimed property, provided that no notice pursuant to this subdivision
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1 shall be required where: (a) such holder has received a claim from the
2 owner of the property; or (b) the original mailing was returned as unde-
3 liverable.
4 § 7. The abandoned property law is amended by adding a new section
5 1423 to read as follows:
6 § 1423. Electronic contact. Notwithstanding any other provisions of
7 this chapter, the comptroller shall promulgate rules and regulations
8 establishing when an electronic communication from the apparent owner of
9 amounts or securities as defined in this chapter shall constitute "writ-
10 ten contact" for purposes of tolling the dormancy period.
11 § 8. Subdivision 2 of section 2222 of the surrogate's court procedure
12 act, as amended by chapter 125 of the laws of 1972, is amended to read
13 as follows:
14 2. The court or the supreme court upon the petition of a person claim-
15 ing to be so entitled and upon at least 14 days' notice, accompanied
16 with a copy of the petition, to the attorney general, the state comp-
17 troller and the public administrator of the county or if there be none,
18 the county treasurer, may by a reference or by directing the trial of an
19 issue by a jury or otherwise, ascertain the rights of the persons inter-
20 ested and grant an order directing the payment of any money which
21 appears to be due to the claimant, [but without interest and] after
22 deducting all expenses incurred by the state with respect thereto.
23 § 9. Section 184 of the state finance law, as amended by chapter 655
24 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
25 § 184. Annual reports to comptroller of custodian of court funds.
26 Every treasurer or financial officer who has [in his charge or]
27 possession of or [under his] control of, or who keeps a record of money,
28 bonds, stocks, mortgages or any other securities or property deposited
29 into court and held by [him] such officer, must, once in each year, make
30 a report to the state comptroller at the time and in the form and manner
31 which [he] the comptroller may prescribe, containing a true statement of
32 [his] the accounts for the preceding year or from the time of the last
33 report. This report must be verified by the oath of such officer, and
34 must be accompanied by the certificate of the proper officer of each
35 bank or trust company, stating the exact amount on deposit with such
36 corporation. Every savings bank, bank or trust company having in its
37 possession, pursuant to an order of a court of record, money, bonds,
38 stocks, mortgages or any other securities or property which were not
39 first deposited in court and delivered to a county treasurer, financial
40 officer or commissioner of finance of the city of New York, must, once
41 in each year, make a report to the comptroller at such time as [he] the
42 comptroller shall prescribe, stating separately for each case the name
43 of the court, the title of the action or proceeding, the date of the
44 receipt, from whom received, for whom received, the amount of money, if
45 any, a description of the securities or other property, each addition of
46 interest and each change of investment, the amount so held at the date
47 of report, the date and description of each other directing payment and
48 the dates and amounts of payments thereunder and to whom made. Every
49 officer, or bank or trust company mentioned in this section, shall
50 furnish any additional report to the comptroller or to the court at such
51 time and in such detail as may be required. The comptroller shall not
52 disclose any amounts listed on any report, except that the aggregate
53 amount of funds reported in any report may be disclosed.
54 § 10. This act shall take effect immediately.
