447.539. Report to treasurer on property presumed abandoned--content--filed, when--extension of filing time--location of owner, duties--penalty--assessment, reconsideration, interest--waiver--determin

MISSOURI STATUTES AND CODES

447.539. Report to treasurer on property presumed abandoned--content--filed, when--extension of filing time--location of owner, duties--penalty--assessment, reconsideration, interest--waiver--determin

Report to treasurer on property presumed abandoned--content--filed,when--extension of filing time--location of owner,duties--penalty--assessment, reconsideration,interest--waiver--determination of amounts, estimation.

447.539. 1. Every person holding funds or other property, tangibleor intangible, presumed abandoned pursuant to sections 447.500 to 447.595shall report to the treasurer with respect to the abandoned property asprovided in this section.

2. The report shall be verified by the person filing the report andshall include:

(1) The name, if known, and last known address, if any, of eachperson appearing from the records of the holder to be the owner of anyproperty of the value of fifty dollars or more presumed abandoned pursuantto sections 447.500 to 447.595;

(2) The nature and identifying number, if any, or description of theproperty and the amount appearing from the records to be due, except thatitems of value under fifty dollars each may be reported in aggregate;

(3) The date when the property became payable, demandable, orreturnable, and the date of the last transaction with the owner withrespect to the property; and

(4) Other information under the control of the holder which thetreasurer prescribes by rule as necessary for the administration ofsections 447.500 to 447.595; however, the treasurer shall not request ahistory of fees and charges on the property in question for informationprior to the cutoff date for reporting.

Should the case be referred to the attorney general for legal action, theattorney general may examine records that are retained under the authorityapplicable to the entity's record retention law.

3. If the person holding property presumed abandoned is a successorto other persons who previously held the property for the owner, or if theholder has changed his or her name while holding the property, the personshall file with his or her report all prior known names and addresses ofeach holder of the property.

4. Except for the year ending June 30, 1984, the report shall befiled before November first of each year as of June thirtieth nextpreceding, but the report of life insurance corporations shall be filedbefore May first of each year as of December thirty-first next preceding.The report for the year ending June 30, 1984, may be combined with thereport for the year ending June 30, 1985, and may be included in the reportdue on November 1, 1985. The treasurer may extend the reporting deadlinefor periods of thirty days upon written request by any person required tofile a report.

5. If the holder of property presumed abandoned pursuant to sections447.500 to 447.595 knows the whereabouts of the owner, if the owner's claimhas not been barred by the statute of limitations, and the propertyinvolved is valued at fifty dollars or more, the holder shall, beforefiling the annual report, communicate with the owner and take necessarysteps to prevent abandonment from being presumed. The holder shallexercise such reasonable and necessary diligence as is consistent with goodbusiness practice to ascertain the whereabouts of such owner of propertyvalued at fifty dollars or more within one year prior to reporting theproperty to the state treasurer.

6. Verification, if made by a partnership, shall be executed by apartner; if made by an unincorporated association or corporation, by anofficer.

7. If the treasurer determines that the person holding propertypresumed abandoned failed to exercise such reasonable and necessarydiligence as is consistent with good business practice to ascertain thewhereabouts of a property owner, the treasurer may impose a penalty on suchholder of up to twenty percent of the value of the property returned to theowner by the treasurer.

8. Any amount (including any penalty) assessed against a holder ofproperty presumed abandoned by the treasurer pursuant to sections 447.500to 447.595 shall be due and payable to the treasurer thirty days after theholder has received written notice of such assessment, unless the holderhas filed a written request for reconsideration by the treasurer. Anyamount assessed against a holder upon reconsideration by the treasurershall be deemed the final decision of the treasurer and shall be due andpayable thirty days after the holder has received written notice of suchfinal decision. Any assessment that remains unpaid forty-five days afterthe holder has received written notice of the final decision by thetreasurer shall accrue interest at the rate of one and one-half percent permonth, which interest shall be added to and included in the amount due andpayable to the treasurer. The treasurer may, for good cause, waive inpart, or in whole, any penalty (including interest) assessed against theholder pursuant to sections 447.500 to 447.595. The treasurer isauthorized to take the appropriate legal action necessary to collect anyunpaid assessment pursuant to sections 447.500 to 447.595. Any penaltyimposed and collected by the treasurer pursuant to the provisions ofsections 447.500 to 447.595 shall be deposited in the state general revenuefund.

9. The holder shall retain such records necessary to verify therelationship of the owner to the holder for a period of not less than fiveyears subsequent to reporting the property to the treasurer.

10. If a holder has failed to retain records sufficient to allow thetreasurer to determine the holder's compliance with sections 447.500 to447.595, the treasurer shall use estimation techniques, in accordance withgenerally accepted accounting principles to determine the amount ofabandoned property that is reportable for and limited to the most currentreportable abandonment period. In cases where multiple states haveexamined a holder, the treasurer may use reasonable estimation techniquesin accordance with generally accepted accounting principles to determinethe holder's compliance with sections 447.500 to 447.595, for allreportable periods that were subject to the examination. The amountdetermined by such methods shall be used as the amount of property presumedabandoned in the holder's report of such property to the treasurer. Theholder may contest the estimation techniques used by the treasurer in anappeal de novo to a circuit court of competent jurisdiction.