HBA-DMH H.B. 3199 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3199
By: Brimer
Business & Industry
4/2/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Unclaimed property is property belonging to a missing owner.  As a matter
of law, such property is presumed abandoned and subject to report to the
comptroller of public account if the location of the owner is unknown to
the holder of the property and, according to the knowledge and records of
the holder, a claim to the property had not been asserted or an act of
ownership of the property has not been exercised after a period of time has
elapsed.  Examples of unclaimed property include traveler's checks, money
orders, and savings account funds.  For a savings account or a travelers
check the comptroller of public accounts attempts to locate the owner using
social security and past address information; however, that type of
information is usually not available for an abandoned money order.
Currently, abandonment of a money order may be presumed after five years of
inactively.  House Bill 3199 increases the time period to seven years.  

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 3199 amends the Property Code to provide that a money order is
presumed to be abandoned on the seventh, rather than the fifth, anniversary
of certain events.  The bill provides that the value of a money order is
determined as of the date the property is presumed abandoned.  The bill
provide an exception for the holder of an abandoned money order to the
prohibition against deducting a charge for the maintenance of a money order 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.