Uncashed
Checks
Most unclaimed
property holders have uncashed checks. The period of abandonment
for these items varies from one to five years and begins
on the date of the last contact with the payee, which
in most cases is the date the check was issued. Reissuing
a check does not change the date it should be remitted
to the Unclaimed Property Division.
The abandonment date of the item is the original date
the item was payable to the owner, which in most cases
is the date the check was issued.
Below are the property types and dormancy periods, which
describe the more common types of unclaimed checks. Also
included is the additional information you should provide
in the property description field.
| Property
Types |
Additional
Information |
| Cashiers
Checks (201)(5) |
Purchasers
name,
check number
(List payee name as owner) |
Wages,
(401);
Commissions (402) (1) |
Dates
of employment |
| Dividends
(801)(902) (5) |
Issue
name of security |
Customer
Overpayment
(405) (3) |
Account
number |
| Utility
Refunds (113) (1) |
Service
address,
account number |
| CD
Interest Checks (216)(5) |
CD
number, check number, |
| Pension
Checks (211)(5) |
Employer
name is different from reporting holder |
Escrow
Accounts held by
Title Company (904)(5) |
File
number,
property address |
| Insurance
claim checks (701)(702)(5) |
Claim
number, name of insured, policy number (if death benefit,
list beneficiary as owner) |
| Vendor
checks (213); Payments for Goods and Services (404)(5) |
Invoice
number |
| |
a |
|
|
| Property
Reported by Financial Institutions |
| Certificates
of Deposit |
The
dormancy period for a matured certificate of deposit
is five years. The dormancy begins the day after the
first maturity of the certificate, that is the day after
the end of the first term. Thus, certificates of deposit
must be reported five years from the date the owners
were first able to recover funds without penalty.
|
|
| Automatically
Renewable Certificates of Deposit |
| An
automatically renewable certificate of deposit is considered
unclaimed five years after 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. For example: In
the absence of depositor contact, the dormancy period
of an automatically renewable two-year account issued
in April 1998 would begin in April 2000 and would be
reported in 2005 as abandoned. |
| |
|
| You
should not report an account until after the expiration
of the period during which there are penalties for early
withdrawal. If an owner contact is established during
renewal term, the dormancy period will run from the
date of such contact. |
|
| IRAs
and Keoghs |
|
| An
IRA account or Keogh plan becomes inactive under the
terms of the account or plan. If the fund specifies
a distribution date or age, then the dormancy period
begins at that point. After three (3) years of inactivity
the account is considered unclaimed. |
|
| Unclaimed
Loan Collateral |
| Unclaimed
loan collateral is considered unclaimed after five years.
This period begins on the date the loan was paid in
full. There are three criteria for collateral to be
reported as unclaimed. |
| |
|
| 1.
The loan has been paid in full or charged off. |
| 2.
There has been no customer contact for five years. |
| 3.
The owner's whereabouts are unknown. |
| |
|
| When
reporting unclaimed loan collateral, use one of two
property type codes. For tangible property set aside
for a loan, use property type code 503 (other tangible
property). Examples of tangible property would be jewelry,
stock certificates, deeds, etc. This would be reported
in the same manner as safe deposit or safekeeping property. |
| |
|
| Code
loan collateral reported as cash with a property type
code 412 (unclaimed loan collateral). Examples of cash
loan collateral are savings accounts and certificates
of deposit. When reporting this type property, the following
information is required: |
|
|
| 1.
|
Collateral receipt number |
| 2.
|
Loan number |
| 3.
|
Description of collateral. Example: Issuing
bank and the number of the certificate of deposit;
bank name and account number for the bank account. |
|
|
|
| The
owner of the property is the person or entity who pledged
the loan. If the loan was in the name of a person or
entity other than the owner of the collateral, enter
the loan name in the description. |
|
