State overhauling unclaimed property law
The General Assembly is swiftly rewriting the law that allows state government to seize unclaimed property, after a federal judge blasted its previous methods for doing so.
Legislative leaders from both parties want the changes to happen quickly because the judge's opinion placed the state's third-largest funding source in jeopardy. The Senate passed the bill unanimously on Thursday, with a House vote likely next week.
"This will fix permanently many of the concerns the judge raised," said Sen. Bryan Townsend, D-Newark, the chief sponsor. "This is a critical piece of legislation to stabilize one of our biggest revenue sources."
The new law would bar state officials from seeking unclaimed property that is more than 10 years old, and it requires both companies and the state to keep records from that far back. That is designed to halt criticism that the state was aggressively seeking property from decades ago.
Read more: http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/19/unclaimed-property-bill/96790038/
