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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2748 |
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TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
H.D. 1 |
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C.D. 1 |
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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]; provided that 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-25, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
"(d) An agreement covered by this section
[which] that provides for compensation that [is unconscionable]
exceeds ten per cent of the total value of the property shall be
unenforceable except by the owner. An owner who has agreed to pay compensation
that [is unconscionable,] exceeds ten per cent of the total value of
the property, or the administrator on behalf of the owner, may maintain an
action to reduce the compensation to [a conscionable] an amount[.]
not to exceed ten per cent of the total value of the property. The
court may award reasonable attorney's fees to an owner who prevails in the
action.
(e) This section does not preclude an
owner from asserting that an agreement covered by this section is invalid on
grounds other than [unconscionable] excessive or unjust compensation.
The court may award reasonable attorney's fees to an owner who prevails in
the action."
SECTION 3. 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 if 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]. The court shall forthwith enter an order
forwarding [such] the 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 funds
of the State of] unclaimed property trust fund under section 523A-26
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 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2012.
Report Title:
Unclaimed Property
Description:
Requires holders of unclaimed property to remit all property with their November 1 report. Allows an owner the right to assert that an agreement is invalid on grounds other than excessive or unjust compensation and allows the court to award reasonable attorney's fees to an owner who prevails in such an action. Corrects a reference to the Unclaimed Property Trust Fund. (CD1)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.