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MarketSphere recently received correspondence from the office of Delaware’s Secretary of State (SOS), regarding the latest round of VDA invitations mailed to companies in February 2020.  As a consequence of the COVID 19 pandemic, the SOS is extending the regular 60-day response deadline. Invited companies will now have until July 18, 2020 to respond to the SOS. The correspondence also provides details regarding how best to communicate with the SOS during the current state of emergency.

 The correspondence states:  

HOLDERS: For any holder who received a February 2020 invitation from the Delaware Secretary of State to join the Voluntary Disclosure Agreement Program ("SOS VDA Program"), due to the current state of emergency declared by Governor John Carney, as well as many other declarations made across the country and the world, the Office of Unclaimed Property, Department of Finance, and the State Escheator recognize that many holders have not had full access to their mail or the proper time to route the invitation to the appropriate individual(s). As a result, holders who received an invitation to join the SOS VDA Program during February 2020 will be able to join the SOS VDA Program through July 18, 2020.

On April 29, 2020 Vermont joined the growing group of states that has adopted RUUPA, when the governor signed HB 550, an act relating to unclaimed property (“Act”) into law.  The Act is effective January 1, 2021.

The Act updates Vermont’s current unclaimed property law, and it is largely based on the revised model act produced by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) in 2016. This act repeals Title 27, chapter 14 (Vermont’s current unclaimed property law) and replaces it with a new chapter 18.

The highlights of the new legislation include expanding record retention requirements, adjusting due diligence requirements, allowing use of extrapolation and statistical sampling for the failure to retain records and providing a transitional provision.

Delaware continues to focus on unclaimed property compliance, with its’ Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (VDA) program at the forefront of this push.  Since the latter part of 2018, Delaware’s Secretary of State has been consistently mailing VDA invitations and continues this practice on an on-going basis. 

Based on correspondence that MarketSphere received from the office of Delaware’s Secretary of State, the latest round of VDA invitations will be mailed on February 20, 2020 to a number of Delaware incorporated companies.   

The correspondence states: 

On February 20, 2020, the Delaware Secretary of State’s Office will be mailing over 100 letters to various companies (individually referred to as “Holder”) that have been identified as likely being out of compliance with Delaware law, 12 Del. C. ch. 11, as it relates to reporting dormant, abandoned, or unclaimed property.  Pursuant to our state laws, Delaware cannot initiate new abandoned or unclaimed property examinations (audits) unless a company has first been notified in writing by the Secretary of State that it may enter into the SOS VDA Program.  The letter serves as such a notice to the Holder and strongly encourages participation in the SOS VDA Program, as an audit notice will be issued by the Delaware Department of Finance 60 days after the date of the mailing

As the correspondence notes, recipient companies must respond to these notices within 60 days or they will be referred to the Delaware Department of Finance, which would then have the option to commence an unclaimed property audit.

On December 6, 2019, AT&T sued the state of Delaware alleging that Delaware’s Department of Finance is violating several clauses of the U.S. Constitution as part of an unclaimed property audit. 

The audit commenced in 2012 and was assigned to Kelmar Associates LLC.  In 2017, Delaware made significant changes to its unclaimed property statute, including the creation of an expedited audit process for existing audits.  AT&T entered the expedited audit process, hoping to finish the audit within the program’s two-year window.

However, just short of the two-year mark, Delaware terminated AT&T's participation in the expedited audit and issued a subpoena to request documents due last week.

In its suit, (AT&T Capital Services Inc. et al v. Richard Geisenberger et al, case number 1:19-cv-02238, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware), AT&T claimed that Delaware has contravened the Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

According to AT&T, the state has demanded AT&T provide records related to “approximately 60 million transactions reflecting almost $100 billion of spend”, and claims the overall audit process violates its rights against unreasonable searches and seizures as well as its due process rights.

Delaware continues to focus on unclaimed property compliance, with its’ Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (VDA) program at the forefront of this push.  Since the latter part of 2018, Delaware’s Secretary of State has been consistently mailing VDA invitations and continues this practice on an on-going basis. 

Based on correspondence that MarketSphere received on September 24, 2019 from the office of Delaware’s Secretary of State, the latest round of VDA invitations have recently been mailed to a number of Delaware incorporated companies.  Targeted companies now include middle market companies with annual revenues of $50M and above. Click here to see a sample correspondence from September 2019.   

The correspondence notes: 

Pursuant to 12 Del. C. §1173(b), the Delaware Secretary of State (SOS) recently sent out letters inviting companies to enter the Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (VDA) Program. Any company that receives a letter is encouraged to enroll in the SOS VDA Program to facilitate compliance with Delaware’s Abandoned or Unclaimed Property Law.

Invitees have 60 days from the date of the invitation to enroll in the SOS VDA Program by completing, executing and submitting Form VDA-1 Disclosure and Notice of Intent to Voluntarily Comply to the Secretary of State.  If an invitee does not enroll in the SOS VDA Program within 60 days of the invitation mailing, the company will be referred to the State Escheator for examination.

Delaware continues to focus on unclaimed property compliance, with its’ Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (VDA) program at the forefront of this push.  Since the latter part of 2018, Delaware’s Secretary of State has been consistently mailing VDA invitations, and our information is that Delaware will continue this practice on an on-going basis. 

Based on correspondence that MarketSphere has received on May 20, 2019 from the office of Delaware’s Secretary of State, the latest round of VDA invitations will be mailed to a number of Delaware incorporated companies in the very near future.    

The correspondence notes: 

Pursuant to 12 Del. C. §1173(b), the Delaware Secretary of State (SOS) soon will distribute letters inviting companies to enter the Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (VDA) Program. Any company that receives a letter is encouraged to enroll in the SOS VDA Program to facilitate compliance with Delaware’s Abandoned or Unclaimed Property Law.

Invitees have 60 days from the date of the invitation to enroll in the SOS VDA Program by completing, executing and submitting Form VDA-1 Disclosure and Notice of Intent to Voluntarily Comply to the Secretary of State.  If an invitee does not enroll in the SOS VDA Program within 60 days of the invitation mailing, the company will be referred to the State Escheator for examination.

On April 16, 2019 Colorado joined the growing group of states that has adopted RUUPA, when the governor signed S.B. 19-088, the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (“Act”) into law.  The Act is effective July 1, 2020 and while it contains many of RUUPA’s provisions it also includes certain provisions that are not contained in RUUPA. 

The legislation makes many changes to the existing statute, the highlights of which include repealing the existing reporting deduction, stipulating record retention requirements, allowing use of estimation methods for the failure to retain records, imposing interest and penalties for failure to act in a timely manner and providing a transitional provision.

Reporting deduction eliminated

Colorado’s current unclaimed property statute provides that “A holder may voluntarily, prior to payment or delivery of said abandoned property, deduct and retain [2%] of the value of the property or [$25] whichever is more per item…”. The Act does not include a similar provision.

Retention of records

The Act provides that “a holder required to file a[n unclaimed property] report … shall retain records for ten years after the later of the date the report was filed or the last date a timely report was due to be filed, unless a shorter period is provided by rule of the administrator”.

Delaware continues to focus on unclaimed property compliance, with its’ Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (VDA) program at the forefront of this push.  Since the latter part of 2018, Delaware’s Secretary of State has been consistently mailing VDA invitations, and our information is that Delaware intends to continue this practice on an on-going basis.

The latest round of VDA invitations were mailed to a significant number of Delaware incorporated companies on February 15, 2019. Recipient companies had to respond to these notices within 60 days (i.e., by April 15), or they would be referred to the Delaware Department of Finance, which would then have the option to commence an unclaimed property audit.

As the deadline has now passed, notified companies that failed to respond can no longer enter the VDA program. Based on recent history, we would now expect all companies that did not enter the VDA program to receive an audit notice in the very near future.

On-line fraud is becoming more prevalent when it comes to unclaimed property claims. 

In a recent case of fraud, the State of Arkansas was found to have paid more than $40,000 to at least one person who used stolen identities to make fraudulent claims through the State’s online claims tool.

Auditor of State Andrea Lea indicated that the fraud used stolen identities to allow the fraudsters to pose as owners of unclaimed property held by the Auditor's office and claim the property for themselves.

A spokesman for the Auditor's office, said that whoever submitted the fraudulent claims had access to the type of documents, such as a passport or driver's license, that the office required as proof of identity for people filling out online claims, and that "this person was an expert criminal". 

Many people are aware that all states and jurisdictions have abandoned property statutes.  These statutes are the basis for how holders report, what they report and various related matters.  A knowledge of these statutes can make the often-complex filing process a little easier to understand.

However, many unclaimed property statutes also include language permitting the state to make complimentary regulations that further define and explain issues that may not be specifically addressed in the statute.  States regularly update their regulations and these updates may not receive significant exposure. This lack of exposure may create problems for holders because an understanding of both statute and regulations is necessary for a holder to be confident that they are in compliance with a state’s unclaimed property requirements.

One recent example of a regulation occurred in December 2018, when Tennessee proposed a regulation that clarifies the obligations of both the Unclaimed Property Division and holders of unclaimed property. It rewrites pre-existing unclaimed property rules with updated provisions.  The purpose of these proposed rules is to bring the Unclaimed Property Division's rules into compliance with new statutory changes to the Tennessee Code Annotated since the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act was passed in 2017.  The document detailing the proposed regulations states: