H. B. 2272
(By Delegate H. K. White)
[Introduced January 15, 1999; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article eight, chapter
thirty-six of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the time period
after which property is presumed abandoned if it is
unclaimed by the apparent owner; and, what constitutes an
indication of an owner's interest in property.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article eight, chapter thirty -six of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. UNIFORM UNCLAIMED PROPERTY ACT.
§36-8-2. Presumptions of abandonment.
(a) Property is presumed abandoned if it is unclaimed by the
apparent owner during the time set forth below for the particular
property:
(1) Traveler's check, fifteen years after issuance;
(2) Money order, seven years after issuance;
(3) Stock or other equity interest in a business association
or financial organization, including a security entitlement under
article eight of the uniform commercial code, five years after
the earlier of: (i) The date of the most recent dividend, stock
split or other distribution unclaimed by the apparent owner; or
(ii) the date of the second mailing of a statement of account or
other notification or communication that was returned as
undeliverable or after the holder discontinued mailings,
notifications or communications to the apparent owner;
(4) Debt of a business association or financial
organization, other than a bearer bond or an original issue
discount bond, five years after the date of the most recent
interest payment unclaimed by the apparent owner;
(5) A noninterest bearing demand, savings or time deposit,
including a deposit that is automatically renewable, five years
after the
earlier later of maturity or the date of the last
indication by the owner of interest in the property; an interest
bearing demand, savings or time deposit including a deposit that
is automatically renewable, seven years after the earlier of
maturity or the date of the last indication by the owner of
interest in the property. A deposit that is automatically
renewable is deemed matured for purposes of this section upon its initial date of maturity, unless the owner has consented to a
renewal at or about the time of the renewal and the consent is in
writing or is evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file
with the holder;
(6) Money or credits owed to a customer as a result of a
retail business transaction, three years after the obligation
accrued;
(7) Gift certificate, three years after the thirty-first day
of December of the year in which the certificate was sold, but if
redeemable in merchandise only, the amount abandoned is deemed to
be sixty percent of the certificate's face value;
(8) Amount owed by an insurer on a life or endowment
insurance policy or an annuity that has matured or terminated,
three years after the obligation to pay arose or, in the case of
a policy or annuity payable upon proof of death, three years
after the insured has attained, or would have attained if living,
the limiting age under the mortality table on which the reserve
is based;
(9) Property distributable by a business association or
financial organization in a course of dissolution, one year after
the property becomes distributable;
(10) Property received by a court as proceeds of a class
action, and not distributed pursuant to the judgment, one year
after the distribution date;
(11) Property held by a court, government, governmental
subdivision, agency or instrumentality, one year after the
property becomes distributable;
(12) Wages or other compensation for personal services, one
year after the compensation becomes payable;
(13) Deposit or refund owed to a subscriber by a utility,
two years after the deposit or refund becomes payable;
(14) Property in an individual retirement account, defined
benefit plan or other account or plan that is qualified for tax
deferral under the income tax laws of the United States, three
years after the earliest of the date of the distribution or
attempted distribution of the property, the date of the required
distribution as stated in the plan or trust agreement governing
the plan, or the date, if determinable by the holder, specified
in the income tax laws of the United States by which distribution
of the property must begin in order to avoid a tax penalty;
(15) Warrants for payment issued by the state of West
Virginia which have not been presented for payment, within six
months of the date of issuance;
(16) All funds held by a fiduciary, including the state
municipal bond commission, for the payment of a note, bond,
debenture or other evidence or indebtedness, five years after the
principal maturity date, or if such note, bond, debenture or
evidence of indebtedness is called for redemption on an earlier date, then the redemption date, such premium or redemption date
to also be applicable to all interest and premium, if any,
attributable to such note, bond, debenture or other evidence of
indebtedness; and
(17) All other property, five years after the owner's right
to demand the property or after the obligation to pay or
distribute the property arises, whichever first occurs.
(b) At the time that an interest is presumed abandoned under
subsection (a) of this section, any other property right accrued
or accruing to the owner as a result of the interest, and not
previously presumed abandoned, is also presumed abandoned.
(c) Property is unclaimed if, for the applicable period set
forth in subsection (a) of this section, the apparent owner has
not communicated in writing or by other means reflected in a
contemporaneous record prepared by or on behalf of the holder,
with the holder concerning the property or the account in which
the property is held, and has not otherwise indicated an interest
in the property. A communication with an owner by a person other
than the holder or its representative who has not in writing
identified the property to the owner is not an indication of
interest in the property by the owner.
(d) An indication of an owner's interest in property
includes:
(1) The presentment of a check or other instrument of payment of a dividend or other distribution made with respect to
an account or underlying stock or other interest in a business
association or financial organization or, in the case of a
distribution made by electronic or similar means, evidence that
the distribution has been received;
(2) Owner-directed activity in the account in which the
property is held, including a direction by the owner to increase,
decrease or change the amount or type of property held in the
account;
(3) The making of a deposit to or withdrawal from a bank
account;
and
(4) The payment of a premium with respect to a property
interest in an insurance policy; but the application of an
automatic premium loan provision or other nonforfeiture provision
contained in an insurance policy does not prevent a policy from
maturing or terminating if the insured has died or the insured or
the beneficiary of the policy has otherwise become entitled to
the proceeds before the depletion of the cash surrender value of
a policy by the application of those provisions;
and
(5) The mailing of any correspondence in writing from a
financial institution to the owner, including:
(i) A statement;
(ii) A report of interest paid or credited; or
(iii) Any other written advice relating to a demand, savings, or matured time deposit account, including a deposit
account that is automatically renewable, or any other account or
other property the owner has with the financial institution if
the correspondence is not returned to the financial institution
for nondelivery.
(6) Any activity by the owner that concerns:
(i) Another demand, savings or matured time deposit account
or other account that the owner has with a financial institution,
including any activity by the owner that results in an increase
or decrease in the amount of any other account; or
(ii) Any other relationship with the financial institution,
including the payment of any amounts due on the loan in the event
the mailing address for the owner contained in the financial
institution's books and records is the same for both an inactive
account and for a related account.
(e) Property is payable or distributable for purposes of
this article notwithstanding the owner's failure to make demand
or present an instrument or document otherwise required to obtain
payment.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the time
period after which property is presumed abandoned and to clarify
what constitutes an indication of an owner's interest in
property.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.