What is Unclaimed Property? Unclaimed property is any financial - PDF document

4/19/19 2019 Unclaimed Property Local Government Reporting Instructions GLENN HEGAR Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts What is Unclaimed Property? Unclaimed property is any financial asset or tangible property* that has been abandoned by the owner • Abandonment is determined by: o property type o date of last contact with business (holder) • State law requires holders to report unclaimed property to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts * tangible property as held in a safe deposit box 2 1

4/19/19 Unclaimed Property in Texas received from holders for re returned to re to owners report year 2018 re 2018 in in fis iscal l year 2018 2018 Fiscal 2019 Goals • Increase number of Holders reporting • Continue to increase the amount of property returned to owners 3 Local Government • Chapter 76 of the Texas Property Code governs the report, delivery and claims process for local government. • Only req equired ed to o re remit amounts gre reater than $100 to to the Co Comptr troller’s s office. • amounts less than $100 shall be remitted to the local county treasurer Treasurer must publish the missing owners’ names and process all • claims of amounts of $100 or less 4 2

4/19/19 Property Held by Local Governments ABANDONED OR UNCLAIMED PROPERTY HELD BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS Property Type of Fund Description Holder Disposition of Unclaimed Funds Code Funds in an Eminent Proceeds from condemnation Sent to local treasurer /or Comptroller CT02 County or District Clerk Domain proceeding proceedings after 3 year dormancy. No waiting period. As soon as the court Property due to unidentified heirs CT03 Escheat Funds County Clerk renders its judgment the state may begin when a person dies without a will. proceedings to acquire the property Until a case is resolved., the court may County or District Clerk. County Sent to local treasurer /or Comptroller CT04 Interpleaded (civil) cases require rent or other payments to be courts at law have civil jurisdiction after 3 year dormancy. made to the registry. up to $100,000 Uncashed checks written by any local Any official with a checking account Sent to local treasurer /or Comptroller CT05 Stale checks official except the county treasurer after 3 year dormancy. Unclaimed cash bail bonds are registry Requires reporting but not release to CT05 Cash bail bonds funds but CCP Art. 17.02 requires court County or District Clerk state or local treasurer, without court order to release. order. Payment by an offender to the victim Crime Victims Restitution Sent to Comptroller after 5 year CT05 for the harm caused by the offender's County or Probation departments dormancy. wrongful acts Funds of minors, or persons Sent to local treasurer /or Comptroller TR03 Trust funds County or District Clerk determined to be incompetent. after 3 year dormancy. 5 Property Held by Local Governments Non-Reportable Type of Fund Description Holder Disposition of Unclaimed Funds Checks expire after 90 days and Uncashed juror checks become non- Juror Checks Clerk of the Court becomes county revenue. Never negotiable after 90 days . becomes unclaimed property. Property Tax Checks expire after 90 days and Erroneous and overpayments Tax Assessor-Collector Refunds becomes county revenue. Excess of tax After 2 years; distributed to each Unclaimed excess of tax liability due liability from County or District Clerk taxing unit in proportion to to original property owner forced sales original claim 6 3

4/19/19 Property Types Courts/Legal General Business, Miscellaneous Property Type: CT Checks and Intangible Personal Trust, Investments and Escrow Accounts Property Code Property Year Property Type: TR Property Type: MS CT01 Escrow funds 3 Code Property Year Code Property Year CT02 Condemnation 3 MS01 Wages, payroll or 1 TR03 Funds held in a 3 awards salary fiduciary capacity CT03 Missing heirs’ 3 MS04 Payment for goods 3 funds and services CT04 Suspense accounts 3 MS08 Accounts payable 3 CT05 Any other types of 3 MS09 Accounts 3 deposits made receivable credit with a court or balances public authority CT99 Aggregate court deposits less than $25 7 Crime Victims Restitution Fi Five ye year dormancy period • Fifth anniversary of the date the department received the initial restitution payment • Five years after the date the department last made a payment to the owner Re Report an annual ally • A negative report is required • Only crime victims restitution properties should be included in the report Re Reports should in inclu lude: • The cause number of the case in which the judge ordered the restitution payment • The amount of restitution ordered and the balance owed to the owner 8 4

4/19/19 Crime Victims Restitution Holder name • County name should include CSCD (Travis County CSCD) • Holder ID will be provided Submitting report: • Select Restitution-CVC as property type 2019 9 Five Basic Steps of Reporting Unable to locate the If owner is not By May 1, due owner. You are found after due diligence notices holding funds that diligence, property are mailed, alerting are owed to an must be included in owner that their employee, client, the July 1 report to unclaimed property vendor or customer. the state. will be reported. You are required to File your electronic keep information report through our relating to reported secure website unclaimed property and submit for 10 years. payment by July 1. 10 5

4/19/19 Deadlines March 1 Annual report cutoff date March 2 – March 1 May 1 Due diligence notice deadline July 1 Report due March 2 March 1 May 1 July 1 previous year current year 2 1 2018 2019 11 Step 1: Determining Dormancy Dormancy is determined by: • No contact (via phone, email, face-to-face) • Property type • Crime Victims Restitution is 5 years 12 6

4/19/19 Step 2: Notifying Property Owners Se Secti tion 74. 74.1011 1011 of Texas s Property ty Co Code requires s holders s to: • Mail a notice to owners for property valued at more than $250 by May 1* • Include the following language in the notice: o You (the holder) are holding the property o You (the holder) may be required to deliver the property to the Comptroller’s office on or before July 1 if the property is not claimed * A notice must be mailed to all owners for cr crime vict ctim restitution pr prope perties , regardless of amount 13 Step 3: Preparing Your Report • Mu Must use reporting software that generates a file in the NA NAUPA2 fo format o Manual Online Reporting (MOR) is available on ClaimItTexas.org o National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators unclaimed.org/reporting • In Information must comply with data entry standards • Pr Property type co codes: o Specific for each institution o Based on reason funds are issued 14 7

4/19/19 Step 3: Preparing Your Report In Inclu lude al all av available information: • Full name • Social security number • Property type • Last contact dates • Last known address • Driver’s license number • Relationship codes • Property description • Account number Cr Crime Vi Victi tims ms Resti titu tuti tion mu must al also in inclu lude: • Cause number of the case • Amount of restitution ordered and balance owed 15 Step 4: Submitting Report and Payment Report must be submitted electronically • ClaimItTexas.org > Reporting Property > Su Submit a Re Report 16 8

4/19/19 Step 4: Submitting Report and Payment • Holder Contact information fields are required • Negative Report – no properties to report • Select the option appropriate for your report type 17 Step 4: Submitting Report and Payment You will receive two notifications after submitting your report • Holder Summary – immediately after submission • Confirmation/report ID number email – approximately one hour after submission o Contains payment instructions Rejected reports must be resubmitted within 30 days 18 9

4/19/19 Step 4: Submitting Report and Payment Forms of payment accepted: • TEXNET (ACH debit or credit) • Paper check Payment requirements: • Payment should match the report totals • One payment per report • Do not send payments for individual properties 19 Step 4: Submitting Report and Payment Paying with TEXNET • If needed, create an unclaimed property account • When a due date falls on a weekend or holiday, it is important to originate the ACH transaction no later than the business day before the weekend or holiday • TEXNET Hotline at 800-531-5441, ext. 3-3010 Paying with Check • Include payment form with your check 20 10

4/19/19 Step 4: Submitting Report and Payment A Report Will Auto-Fail If: • It is not in NAUPA2 format • The last contact date is not provided • The relationship code is not provided • The report or submission is incomplete If you fail to submit a corrected report within 30 days, REMEMBER ! you may be subject to penalty and interest. 21 Step 5: Archiving Data Requirements for Archiving Information • Section 74.013 of Texas Property Code requires holders to retain records for 10 years after property is reported • You may be contacted by Comptroller staff for additional information (Evidence Request) • You may be audited for compliance with this requirement *If you need to reprint a report that has been filed, send a written request to open.records@cpa.texas.gov 22 11