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.