HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2532

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO UNCLAIMED PROPERTY.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  Section 523A-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

     "(a)  Except for property held in a safe deposit box or other safekeeping depository, [within six months after the final date for] upon filing the report required by section 523A-8, the holder of property presumed abandoned shall pay, deliver, or cause to be paid or delivered to the administrator the property described in the report as unclaimed, but if the property is an automatically renewable deposit, and a penalty or forfeiture in the payment of interest would result, the time for compliance shall be extended until a penalty or forfeiture would no longer result.  Tangible property held in a safe deposit box or other safekeeping depository shall not be delivered to the administrator until an additional one hundred twenty days after the time for payment or delivery to the administrator of property presumed abandoned as required by this subsection."

     SECTION 2.  Section 523A-15, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "[[]§523A-15[]]  Filing claim with administrator; handling of claims by administrator.  (a)  A person, excluding another state, claiming property paid or delivered to the administrator may file a claim on a form prescribed by the administrator and verified by the claimant.

     [(b)  Within one hundred twenty days after a claim is filed, the administrator shall allow or deny the claim and give written notice of the decision to the claimant.  If the claim is denied, the administrator shall inform the claimant of the reasons for the denial and specify what additional evidence is required before the claim will be allowed.  The claimant may then file a new claim with the administrator or maintain an action under section 523A-16.

     (c)  Within thirty days after a claim is allowed, the property or the net proceeds of a sale of the property shall be delivered or paid by the administrator to the claimant, together with any dividend, interest, or other increment to which the claimant is entitled under sections 523A-12 and 523A-13.

     (d)] (b)  A holder who pays the owner for property that has been delivered to the State and which, if claimed from the administrator by the owner would be subject to an increment under sections 523A-12 and 523A-13, may recover from the administrator the amount of the increment."

     SECTION 3.  Section 523A-16, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "[[]§523A-16[]] Action to establish claim.  A person, excluding another state, aggrieved by a decision of the administrator or whose claim has not been acted upon [within one hundred twenty days after its filing] may maintain an original action to establish the claim in the circuit court, naming the administrator as a defendant.  If the aggrieved person establishes the claim in an action against the administrator, the court may award the claimant reasonable attorney's fees."

     SECTION 4.  Section 560:3-1210, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§560:3-1210  Undistributed proceeds or balances, disposition.  When any balance remains in the hands of the clerk, after payment in the order specified in section 560:3-805, and no heirs or devisees of the decedent[,] entitled to the balance[,] can be located after reasonable search and inquiry, the clerk, after the expiration of one year after the first publication, shall report the fact to the court, which shall forthwith enter an order forwarding such property to the state director of finance, and the clerk thereupon shall immediately deposit the money or funds, or any balance, with the director for disposition as provided in chapter 523A.  The director at any time may authorize the payment out of the [general] trust funds of the State of any amount so forwarded to any person who establishes to the satisfaction of the director that the person is legally entitled thereto as an heir or devisee of the decedent, and the person shall be entitled to receive the amount thereof out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, upon warrant drawn by the state comptroller."

     SECTION 2.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2010.

 

 

Report Title:

Unclaimed Property Program

 

Description:

Requires holders of unclaimed property to remit all property with their November 1 report and deletes reference to a specific number of days in which claims must be acted upon; also makes a technical correction by referencing the Unclaimed Property Trust Fund.  (HB2532 HD1)

 

 

 

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