MarketSphere has been made aware that holders may be receiving notices from the State of Delaware. The following is a recent posting to the Unclaimed Property Professionals Organization (UPPO) website concerning these notices detailing interaction with the Delaware State Escheator.
UPPO recently received reports that Delaware unclaimed property staff has notified some holders that they are required to submit a copy of their policies and procedures as part of their annual filing. In response, UPPO reached out to Delaware State Escheator Brenda Mayrack, requesting clarification. Following is her response:
“Holders are not required to submit their unclaimed property policies and procedures as part of their annual filing.
“However, what I anticipate is prompting this question is our new ‘Compliance Review’ process, which was enacted as part of the 2017 amendments to Delaware’s Unclaimed Property Law (SB 13) in 12 Del. C. sec. 1170.
“Several holders have already been selected for this review and may have received a letter requesting a ‘verified report.’ Part of that review, particularly if the holder filed no report or a $0/” negative” report, is to request that holder’s unclaimed property policies procedures to ensure that the holder has an appropriate, proactive, and deliberate process in place that results in no report or a $0/‘negative’ report. See 12 Del. C. sec. 1170(b) (‘If the State Escheator believes that a person may have filed an inaccurate, incomplete, or false report, including a report submitted under paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the State Escheator may authorize a compliance review of that report …. The compliance review must be limited to the contents of the report filed as required by §§ 1142, 1143 of this title, and subsection (a) of this section, and all supporting documents related to such reports.’) (emphasis added).”
Understanding each state’s annual unclaimed property requirements can be an extremely confusing undertaking and very time-consuming. If you are uncertain about your unclaimed property responsibilities or whether your organization is complying with the various state statutes, engage with an unclaimed property professional such as MarketSphere.
A professional advisor has the expertise and knowledge to help holders understand the requirements imposed by state statutes and regulations and recommend actions that need to be taken.
If you received a letter or an email, please check out our FAQ section to learn more about next steps.
We offer a customized approach to fit your specific needs.