Reporting and Delivery of Property Presumed Abandoned

PURPOSE: Sections 447.500–447.595, RSMo comprise the Missouri Unclaimed Property Act. This rule explains the reporting, examining and delivery requirements of that Act. (1) Who Must Report. Holders are obliged to report to the division per section 447.539, RSMo. From time-to-time the division shall contract with other state agencies to insert information regarding holder obligations to report unclaimed property in broad-based business related mailings. (2) When Reports Are Due. Reports of unclaimed property are to be filed before November 1 of each year and shall contain all information as of the previous June 30 with the exception of life insurance companies which shall file before May 1 of each year concerning all information from the previous December 31. Upon written request, the treasurer may grant an extension not to exceed thirty (30) days. (3) Searching for Owners. Holders are to exercise reasonable and necessary diligence as is consistent with good business practice in attempting to locate owners of abandoned property of fifty dollars ($50) or more. These location efforts should be timed to occur prior to the reporting deadline (May 1, life insurance companies or November 1, all other entities). Owner location efforts may include, but are not limited to: (A) Reviewing the holder records to determine whether the owner has other active account(s) within the entity. If the owner has an active account other than the property subject to the abandonment period, that property shall not be considered abandoned and the holder shall update its records accordingly; (B) Mailing a letter, first-class with postage prepaid and with return address requested, to the last known address of the owner. If the letter is not returned by the post office, the holder shall assume the owner accepted mail from the banking or financial organization (see 15 CSR 50-3.005(1)(B) or (F)). All other holders shall assume the property is abandoned and shall remit accordingly; and (C) Contacting the owner by telephone is acceptable notification; however, the holder shall document that contact was made. (4) Form of Reports to the Division. Report forms will be supplied by the division and shall be verified by the person filing who shall be—a partner, if the holder is a partnership, or an officer, if the holder is a corporation. The report shall clearly and concisely declare— (A) The name and address of the holder and, if a successor to another holder or if a name change has occurred, all previous names and addresses; (B) The name, last known address and amount due each owner of fifty dollars ($50) or more plus the description and identifying number, if any, of the property; (C) The date the property became payable, demandable, issued or returnable, if any, and the date of the last transaction; (D) At the time the property is determined to be abandoned and reportable, any applicable interest rate shall be supplied by the holder; (E) Amounts under fifty dollars ($50) may be reported in aggregate as lump sums and without name or address (for example, seventeen (17) aggregate owners due a total of two hundred eleven dollars and fifty-five cents ($211.55)); (F) Any holder submitting a report concerning the property of fifty (50) or more owners shall do so electronically. Information concerning acceptable electronic reporting format may be obtained by contacting the Missouri State Treasurer’s Office by mail: 301 W. High Street, Room 157, Jefferson City, MO, 65101; by telephone: 573-751-0123; by facsimile: 573-526-6027; by email: ucp@treasurer.mo.gov; or by visiting its public website at www.treasurer.mo.gov. Holders submitting reports concerning the property of fewer than fifty (50) owners may choose to do so electronically rather than by paper report. Any holder failing to report as required under this provision may be subject to the penalties set forth in section 447.577, RSMo; (G) Cashier’s checks or other similar instruments on which the holder is directly liable may pose some problems as it may be unclear whether the remitter or the payee is the owner. The holders of these instruments should provide information on both, if available (section 447.539, RSMo); (H) Courts maintaining accounts for the purpose of administering child support payments shall report and remit any accounts seven (7) years (five (5) years after 1/1/2000) from the date the property became payable; (I) Underlying shares are presumed abandoned when the owner fails to exercise rights of ownership, including, but not limited to, failure to cash a dividend check or communicate with the holder which issued the stock; and (J) If the holder has no property to remit, no report need be filed. (5) Remitting and Delivering; Costs Retained by Holders. (A) Money shall be remitted by check made payable to the treasurer and delivered with all other property to the division when the report is filed. (B) Corporations obliged to deliver property represented by stock certificates may— 1. Transfer title of the underlying shares to the state on the records of the issuing corporation and so advise the section; or 2. Forward the appropriate replacement stock certificates inscribed “Missouri State Treasurer.” (C) The cost of postage for filing the holder report may be retained by the holder, and deducted from the amount of property remitted. Clerical costs of preparing the holder report may be retained by the holder at a rate of ten dollars ($10) per hour, not to exceed either the actual time expended or one (l) hour per fifty (50) owners reported, whichever is less. Aggregates including multiple owners are to be considered as one (1) owner for purposes of reimbursing clerical costs. The treasurer may approve written requests for reimbursement for additional expenses if such requests are submitted and approved prior to the applicable reporting date. (D) Costs incurred for the drilling and shipping of a safe deposit box and its contents shall be considered a deductible cost of compliance against the value of the contents of that particular box. Otherwise, holders shall exercise their rights as warehousemen, according to the safe deposit box law or the holder’s safe deposit box contract. (E) Examination of Holders and Enforcing Delivery. The treasurer may conduct an examination if s/he has reason to believe a holder has failed to report property pursuant to the Act. The examination may be conducted by examination staff from— 1. The appropriate regulatory entity, including but not limited to: Divisions of Finance, Credit Union; Department of Insurance; and Public Service Commission; or 2. The division pursuant to certification by the chief officer of the appropriate regulatory entity as applicable. (6) Late Identification of Owner. (A) Should an owner be located too late to be removed from the report to be filed, the holder should pay the money or return the property to the owner and file a verified explanation of the proof of claim or of the error in the presumption of abandonment with the director (section 447.543.1., RSMo). (B) Holders who have remitted money to the state should notify the state if an owner appears to claim the property. The state will reimburse the holder, if the state has not already made payment on the account, upon proof of payment and proof that the payee was entitled to the money. Holders may refer owners to the state for payment. Payments made to claimants after remitting money to the state should be made with caution, as the burden of proof will shift from the claimant to the holder. (C) Holders who have delivered property other than money may direct subsequent claimants to the division for the return of the property or the money which resulted from a sale (section 447.558, RSMo). AUTHORITY: sections 447.505, 447.520, 447.539, 447.543, 447.545, 447.547, 447.558, 447.579, and 447.587, RSMo 2016, and section 447.562, RSMo Supp. 2019.* This rule was previously filed as 4 CSR 25-1.070. Original rule filed June 3, 1985, effective Sept. 27, 1985. Amended: Filed Sept. 15, 1986, effective Dec. 12, 1986. Amended: Filed Oct. 3, 1991, effective May 14, 1992. Amended: Filed April 15, 1999, effective Sept. 30, 1999. Amended: Filed May 30, 2019, effective Nov. 30, 2019. *Original authority: 447.505, RSMo 1984, amended 1989, 1994, 1998; 447.520, RSMo 1984, amended 1998; 447.539, RSMo 1984, amended 1989, 1993, 1994, 1998; 447.543, RSMo 1984, amended 1986, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1998; 447.545, RSMo 1984, amended 1993, 1994, 1998; 447.547, RSMo 1984, amended 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 2014; 447.558, RSMo 1984, amended 1986, 1993, 1994, 1998; 447.562, RSMo 1984, amended 1989, 1993, 1994, 2018; 447.579, RSMo 1984, amended 1993, 1994; and 447.587, RSMo 1989, amended 1994.