Relates to the publication by the state of the receipt of unclaimed funds.

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S899-2011 Actions

• May 14, 2012: referred to ways and means
• May 14, 2012: DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
• May 14, 2012: PASSED SENATE
• May 8, 2012: AMENDED ON THIRD READING 899A
• May 7, 2012: ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
• May 2, 2012: 2ND REPORT CAL.
• May 1, 2012: 1ST REPORT CAL.655
• Jan 4, 2012: REFERRED TO FINANCE
• Jan 4, 2012: returned to senate
• Jan 4, 2012: died in assembly
• Jun 15, 2011: referred to ways and means
• Jun 15, 2011: DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
• Jun 15, 2011: PASSED SENATE
• May 18, 2011: ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
• May 17, 2011: 2ND REPORT CAL.
• May 16, 2011: 1ST REPORT CAL.653
• Jan 5, 2011: REFERRED TO FINANCE

S899-2011 Meetings

Finance: May 1, 2012, Finance: May 17, 2011

S899-2011 Calendars

Active List: Jun 15, 2011 , Floor Calendar: May 2, 2012 , Floor Calendar: May 7, 2012 , Floor Calendar: May 8, 2012 , Floor Calendar: May 17, 2011 , Floor Calendar: May 18, 2011 , Floor Calendar: May 23, 2011 , Floor Calendar: May 24, 2011 , Floor Calendar: May 25, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 1, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 2, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 6, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 7, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 13, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 14, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 15, 2011

S899-2011 Votes

S899-2011 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S899

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the abandoned property law and the state technology law, in
relation to unclaimed funds

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to erase
an access barrier for visually impaired New Yorkers to obtain
unclaimed funds currently being held by the State; and ensure that
New Yorkers are aware that they can obtain unclaimed directly from
the state free of charge.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section (a) and (b) of the New York
State Abandoned Property Law �1402-01 are amended to require the
State Comptroller to include contact information for citizens to
obtain a large print copy in all publications of the unclaimed funds
owners list.

Section (d) of the New York State Abandoned Property Law
�1416-01 is amended to require contracts to obtain unclaimed funds for
owners including a notice that unclaimed funds can be obtained
directly from the state for no fee. Section 18 of New York State
Technology Law �103 is added to require the Office for Technology to
establish accessibility standards for typeface and font-size to
assist the visually impaired.

Section (a) of the New York State Abandoned Property Law �1402-01 is
removed because they are historical statutes.

Section (b) of the New York State Abandoned Property Law �1402-01 is
amended to become Section (a) and requires the September and March
publications appear in newspapers designated by the Comptroller.

Section (b) of the New York State Abandoned Property Law �1402-01 is
amended to require notice that readers may obtain a large-font print
copy of the unclaimed funds list by writing to the comptroller's
office or have a search conducted for them by calling a designated
number in a typeface and font-size established by the Office for
Technology.

Section (d) of the New York State Abandoned Property Law �1416-01 is
amended to require agreements to locate property held by the
comptroller include language stating that the funds can be obtained
directly from the comptroller without paying a fee and that the funds
will be held indefinitely.

Section 18 of the New York State Technology Law �103 is amended to
require the Office for Technology to establish accessibility
standards for typeface and font-size to assist the visually impaired
in conjunction with the Commission for the Blind and Visually
Handicapped.

JUSTIFICATION:


New Yorkers with visual impairments have difficulty
ascertaining whether they have funds being held by the New York State
Office of the State Comptroller as unclaimed. Notification of these
unclaimed funds appears in newspaper publications that typically use
a small font. As a result, many New Yorkers learn about these funds
through solicitations from private investigators. These investigators
charge a fee, typically the statutory maximum of fifteen percent, to
collect these funds without informing the owner that the state will
release these funds for free. This legislation addresses these issues
by requiring all "statements of abandoned property paid to and held
by the state" published by the Office of the State Comptroller to
include contact information in a typeface and font-size established
by Office for Technology as accessible for the visually impaired. In
addition, it requires all agreements to collect unclaimed funds
include a notice that these funds can be obtained directly from the
state without charge.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Minimal

EFFECTIVE DATE:
Sixtieth day after it shall have become a law.

S899-2011 Text

                      S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
  ________________________________________________________________________

                                     899

                         2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                              I N  SENATE

                                 (PREFILED)

                               January 5, 2011
                                 ___________

  Introduced  by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
    printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance

  AN ACT to amend the abandoned property law and the state technology law,
    in relation to unclaimed funds

    THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
  BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


    Section  1.  Subdivision  1  of section 1402 of the abandoned property
  law, as added by chapter 261 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read  as
  follows:

    1. (a) [The state comptroller shall publish:
    (i)  in  an  issue  of  the  state  bulletin published in the month of
  September, nineteen hundred seventy-nine or  in  a  September,  nineteen
  hundred  seventy-nine issue of another publication selected by the comp-
  troller, a statement of abandoned property paid to and held by the state
  for the period beginning on June first, nineteen  hundred  seventy-eight
  and ending on November thirtieth, nineteen hundred seventy-eight;
    (ii)  in  an  issue  of  the  state bulletin published in the month of
  March, nineteen hundred eighty, or in a March issue of another  publica-
  tion selected by the comptroller, a statement of abandoned property paid
  to  and  held  by  the state for the period beginning on December first,
  nineteen hundred seventy-eight and ending on May thirty-first,  nineteen
  hundred seventy-nine.
    (b)  In  each  succeeding]  EACH  September and March, the state comp-
  troller shall publish[, in the manner provided for in paragraph  (a)  of
  this  subdivision]  IN  A NEWSPAPER, AS PROVIDED BY SECTION ONE THOUSAND
  FOUR HUNDRED TEN OF THIS ARTICLE, A STATEMENT OF ABANDONED PROPERTY PAID
  TO AND HELD BY THE STATE, for the respective annual periods June  first,
  through November thirtieth and December first, through May thirty-first.
    (B) EACH AND EVERY TIME THE COMPTROLLER PUBLISHES A STATEMENT PURSUANT
  TO  PARAGRAPH  (A) OF THIS SUBDIVISION, HE OR SHE SHALL INCLUDE A NOTICE

   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD00678-01-1

 S. 899                              2

  THAT READERS MAY OBTAIN A LARGE PRINT COPY OF THE UNCLAIMED  FUNDS  LIST
  BY  WRITING THE COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE OR HAVE A SEARCH CONDUCTED FOR THEM
  BY CALLING A DESIGNATED NUMBER. THIS NOTICE MUST APPEAR IN TYPEFACE  AND
  FONT-SIZE  ESTABLISHED  BY  THE  NEW YORK STATE OFFICE FOR TECHNOLOGY TO
  ASSIST THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED AND INCLUDE THE PHONE  NUMBER  AND  MAILING
  ADDRESS TO THE NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER, OFFICE OF
  UNCLAIMED FUNDS.
    (c)  The  provisions  of this subdivision shall not apply to abandoned
  property paid pursuant to section one thousand  three  hundred  of  this
  chapter  or  section four hundred twenty-four of the vehicle and traffic
  law.
    S 2. Subdivision 1 of section 1416 of the abandoned property  law,  as
  added by chapter 173 of the laws of 1980, is amended to read as follows:

    1. No agreement to locate property held by the comptroller pursuant to
  this chapter shall be valid unless that agreement:

    (a) is in writing and signed by the property owner;
    (b) discloses the nature of the property; [and]
    (c) discloses the name and address of the holder; AND
    (D)  INCLUDES  LANGUAGE, ESTABLISHED BY THE STATE COMPTROLLER, STATING
  THAT THE FUNDS HELD BY THE STATE  CAN  BE  OBTAINED  DIRECTLY  FROM  THE
  OFFICE  OF  THE  COMPTROLLER  BY ITS OWNER WITHOUT PAYING A FEE AND THAT
  THESE FUNDS WILL BE HELD INDEFINITELY.
    S 3. Section 103 of the state technology law is amended  by  adding  a
  new subdivision 18 to read as follows:

    18.  TO  CONSULT  WITH  THE COMMISSION ON THE BLIND AND VISUALLY HAND-
  ICAPPED TO DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS FOR TYPEFACE AND
  FONT SIZE TO ASSIST THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED.
    S 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
  have become a law.