As Introduced

128th General Assembly
Regular Session
2009-2010
H. B. No. 126


Representative Williams, S. 

Cosponsors: Representatives Letson, Domenick, Murray, Hagan, Foley, Harwood, Mallory, Brown 

A BILL
To amend sections 169.13 and 169.14 of the Revised 1
Code to require the director of budget and 2
management to withhold from an unclaimed funds 3
payment any legal amount in an agreement to 4
compensate a registered finder and to pay that 5
amount directly to the finder.6


BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

       Section 1. That sections 169.13 and 169.14 of the Revised 7
Code be amended to read as follows:8

       Sec. 169.13.  (A)(1) All agreements to pay a fee,9
compensation, commission, or other remuneration to locate,10
deliver, recover, or assist in the recovery of unclaimed funds11
reported under section 169.03 of the Revised Code, entered into12
within two years immediately after the date a report is filed13
under division (C) of section 169.03 of the Revised Code, are14
invalid.15

       (2) A person interested in entering into an agreement to 16
locate, deliver, recover, or assist in the recovery of unclaimed 17
funds for remuneration shall not initiate any contact with an 18
owner during the two-year period immediately after the date a 19
report is filed under division (C) of section 169.03 of the 20
Revised Code. Failure to comply with this requirement is grounds 21
for the invalidation of any such agreement between the person and 22
the owner.23

       (B) An agreement entered into any time after such two-year24
period is valid only if all of the following conditions are met:25

       (1) The aggregate fee, compensation, commission, or other26
remuneration agreed upon is not in excess of ten per cent of the 27
amount recovered and paid to the owner by the director of budget 28
and management;29

       (2) The agreement is in writing, signed by the owner, and 30
notarized and discloses all of the following items:31

       (a) The name, address, and telephone number of the owner, as 32
shown by the records of the person or entity in possession of the 33
unclaimed funds or contents of a safe deposit box;34

       (b) The name, address, and telephone number of the owner if 35
the owner's name, address, or telephone number are different from 36
the name, address, or telephone number of the owner as shown by 37
the records of the person or entity in possession of the unclaimed 38
funds or contents of a safe deposit box;39

       (c) The nature and value of the unclaimed funds or contents 40
of a safe deposit box;41

       (d) The amount the owner will receive after the fee or42
compensation has been subtracted;43

       (e) The name and address of the person or entity in44
possession of the unclaimed funds or contents of a safe deposit 45
box;46

       (f) That the auditor of statedirector of budget and 47
management will pay thewithhold from the unclaimed fund payment 48
any legal amount specified in the agreement to compensate a person 49
registered under section 169.16 of the Revised Code for services 50
performed pursuant to the agreement, will pay the amount directly 51
to the registrant, less any fee established pursuant to division 52
(D) of section 169.14 of the Revised Code, and will pay any 53
remaining unclaimed funds directly to the owner, or the director 54
of commerce shall deliver the contents of a safe deposit box 55
directly to the owner;56

        (g) That the person agreeing to locate, deliver, recover, or57
assist in the recovery of the unclaimed funds or contents of a 58
safe deposit box is not an employee or agent of the director of 59
commerce;60

        (h) That the director of commerce is not a party to the 61
agreement;62

        (i) That the person agreeing to locate, deliver, recover, or 63
assist in the recovery of the unclaimed funds or contents of a 64
safe deposit box holds a valid certificate of registration issued 65
by the director under section 169.16 of the Revised Code;66

        (j) The number designated on that certificate of registration 67
and the date the certificate of registration expires.68

       (3) No agreement described in division (B)(2) of this section 69
shall include a power of attorney for the payment of the unclaimed 70
funds or delivery of the contents of a safe deposit box to any 71
person other than the owner of the unclaimed funds or contents of 72
a safe deposit box.73

        (4) If the agreement involves recovery of the contents of a 74
safe deposit box, the agreement stipulates that the person 75
receiving any fee, compensation, commission, or other remuneration 76
for engaging in any activity for the purpose of locating, 77
delivering, recovering, or assisting in the recovery of unclaimed 78
funds or other items stored in a safe deposit box on behalf of any 79
other person shall do all of the following:80

        (a) Make arrangements to have an appraiser and the director 81
of commerce view the contents of the safe deposit box together, at 82
a time mutually agreeable to the appraiser and director;83

       (b) State that the value of the property in the safe deposit 84
box is the amount established by the appraiser who viewed the safe 85
deposit box contents;86

        (c) Base the fee, compensation, commission, or other 87
remuneration for locating, delivering, recovering, or assisting in 88
the recovery of unclaimed funds or other items stored in a safe 89
deposit box on the appraised value established by the appraiser 90
who viewed the safe deposit box contents.91

       (C) No person shall receive a fee, compensation, commission,92
or other remuneration, or engage in any activity for the purpose93
of locating, delivering, recovering, or assisting in the recovery94
of unclaimed funds or contents of a safe deposit box, under an 95
agreement that is invalid under this section.96

       (D) A person who receives any fee, compensation, commission, 97
or other remuneration for engaging in any activity for the purpose 98
of locating, delivering, recovering, or assisting in the recovery 99
of unclaimed funds or other items stored in a safe deposit box on 100
behalf of any other person cannot function as an appraiser of the 101
contents of the safe deposit box for purposes of division (B)(4) 102
of this section.103

       (E) The director of commerce shall not recognize or make any 104
delivery and the auditor of statedirector of budget and 105
management shall not make any payment pursuant to any power of 106
attorney between an owner of the unclaimed funds or contents of a 107
safe deposit box and the person with whom the owner entered into 108
an agreement pursuant to division (B)(2) of this section to 109
locate, deliver, recover, or assist in the recovery of the 110
unclaimed funds or contents of a safe deposit box if that power 111
of attorney is entered into on or after the effective date of 112
this amendmentMarch 23, 2007, and that power of attorney 113
specifically provides for the payment of unclaimed funds or 114
delivery of the contents of a safe deposit box to any person other 115
than the owner of the unclaimed funds or contents of a safe 116
deposit box. Nothing in this section shall be construed as 117
prohibiting the payment of unclaimed funds or delivery of the 118
contents of a safe deposit box to the legal representative of the 119
owner of the unclaimed funds or contents of the safe deposit box. 120
Notwithstanding the definition of "owner" specified in division 121
(C) of section 169.01 of the Revised Code, for purposes of the 122
payment of unclaimed funds or delivery of the contents of the safe 123
deposit box, a person with whom an owner entered into an agreement 124
under division (B)(2) of this section is not a legal 125
representative.126

       Sec. 169.14. (A) Each person that files a claim with the127
director of commerce, pursuant to an agreement entered into under 128
division (B) of section 169.13 of the Revised Code, shall include 129
with that claim a copy of the agreement and the number designated 130
on the certificate of registration that is issued to the person 131
under section 169.16 of the Revised Code.132

        (B) The division of unclaimed funds shall not process any133
claim described in division (A) of this section that does not134
include the required certificate of registration number.135

       (C) The director of budget and management shall withhold from 136
the unclaimed fund payment any legal amount specified in an 137
agreement entered into under division (B) of section 169.13 of the 138
Revised Code to compensate a person registered under section 139
169.16 of the Revised Code for services performed pursuant to the 140
agreement, shall pay the amount directly to the registrant, less 141
any fee established pursuant to division (D) of this section, and 142
shall pay any remaining unclaimed funds directly to the owner.143

       (D) The director of commerce may establish a reasonable fee 144
for the processing and delivery of any payment made to a 145
registrant pursuant to an agreement under division (B) of section 146
169.13 of the Revised Code.147

       Section 2. That existing sections 169.13 and 169.14 of the 148
Revised Code are hereby repealed.149

       Section 3.  Section 169.13 of the Revised Code is presented 150
in this act as a composite of the section as amended by both Am. 151
Sub. H.B. 699 and Am. Sub. S.B. 223 of the 126th General Assembly. 152
The General Assembly, applying the principle stated in division 153
(B) of section 1.52 of the Revised Code that amendments are to be 154
harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation, finds 155
that the composite is the resulting version of the section in 156
effect prior to the effective date of the section as presented in 157
this act.158