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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(f) That the auditor of state director of budget and management will pay the withhold from the unclaimed fund payment any legal amount specified in the agreement to compensate a person registered under section 169.16 of the Revised Code for services performed pursuant to the agreement, willpay the amount directly to the registrant, and will pay any remaining unclaimed funds directly to the owner, or the director of commerce shall deliver the contents of a safe deposit box directly to the owner;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(E) The director shall not recognize or make any delivery and the auditor of state shall not make any payment pursuant to any power of attorney between an owner of the unclaimed funds or contents of a safe deposit box and the person with whom the owner entered into an agreement pursuant to division (B)(2) of this section to locate, deliver, recover, or assist in the recovery of the unclaimed funds or contents of a safe deposit box if that power of attorney is entered into on or after the effective date of this amendment March 23, 2007, and that power of attorney specifically provides for the payment of unclaimed funds or delivery of the contents of a safe deposit box to any person other than the owner of the unclaimed funds or contents of a safe deposit box. Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting the payment of unclaimed funds or delivery of the contents of a safe deposit box to the legal representative of the owner of the unclaimed funds or contents of the safe deposit box. Notwithstanding the definition of "owner" specified in division (C) of section 169.01 of the Revised Code, for purposes of the payment of unclaimed funds or delivery of the contents of the safe deposit box, a person with whom an owner entered into an agreement under division (B)(2) of this section is not a legal representative.

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

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

(C) The director of budget and management shall withhold from the unclaimed fund payment any legal amount specified in an agreement entered into under division (B) of section 169.13 of the Revised Code to compensate a person registered under section 169.16 of the Revised Code for services performed pursuant to the agreement, shall pay the amount directly to the registrant, and shall pay any remaining unclaimed funds directly to the owner.

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

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