Unclaimed Property Local Government Reporting Instructions GLENN - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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

Unclaimed Property in Texas re received fr from ho hold lder ers fo for re returned to to owner owners re report ye year 2018 2018 in in fis fiscal ye 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. • Onl Only re require red to to re remit amoun amounts gr grea eater than than $100 $100 to to the the Comptr trolle ller’s of offi fice. ce. 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

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

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 Fiv Five ye year dormancy dormancy peri period od • 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 Report annual Re annually • A negative report is required • Only crime victims restitution properties should be included in the report Re Reports should should incl clude: ude: • 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

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

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

Step 2: Notifying Property Owners Sectio Section 74.1011 74.1011 of of Te Texas Property operty Code Code re require res hol holder ers to: 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 crime victim restitution properties, regardless of amount 13

Step 3: Preparing Your Report • Mu Must st use use re reporting softw software tha that gener generates a file file in in the the NA NAUP UPA2 A2 fo format o Manual Online Reporting (MOR) is available on ClaimItTexas.org o National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators unclaimed.org/reporting • In Informatio ion must must co compl mply wi with da data en entry try standar andards • Pr Property typ type co codes: o Specific for each institution o Based on reason funds are issued 14

Step 3: Preparing Your Report Incl Include ude all availa ailable in inform rmatio ion: • Full name • Social security number • Property type • Last contact dates • Last known address • Driver’s license number • Relationship codes • Property description • Account number Crime Vi Cri Vict ctims Restitu itutio ion must must also incl clude: ude: • 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 > Subm Submit it a Re Report 16

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

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

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, 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