Ohio Code 169.05 – Unclaimed funds trust fund
(A) Every holder required to file a report under section 169.03 of the Revised Code shall, at the time of filing, pay to the director of commerce ten per cent of the aggregate amount of unclaimed funds as shown on the report, except for aggregate amounts of fifty dollars or less in which case one hundred per cent shall be paid. The funds may be deposited by the director in the state treasury to the credit of the unclaimed funds trust fund, which is hereby created, or placed with a financial organization. Any interest earned on money in the trust fund shall be credited to the trust fund. The remainder of the aggregate amount of unclaimed funds as shown on the report, plus earnings accrued to date of payment to the director, shall, at the option of the director, be retained by the holder or paid to the director for deposit as agent for the mortgage funds with a financial organization as defined in section 169.01 of the Revised Code, with the funds to be in income-bearing accounts to the credit of the mortgage funds, or the holder may enter into an agreement with the director specifying the obligations of the United States in which funds are to be invested, and agree to pay the interest on the obligations to the state. Holders retaining any funds not in obligations of the United States shall enter into an agreement with the director specifying the classification of income-bearing account in which the funds will be held and pay the state interest on the funds at a rate equal to the prevailing market rate for similar funds. Moneys that the holder is required to pay to the director rather than to retain may be deposited with the treasurer of state, or placed with a financial organization.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 169.05
- Deposit: means to place money in the custody of a financial organization for the purpose of establishing an income-bearing account by purchase or otherwise. See Ohio Code 169.01
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Financial organization: means any bank, trust company, savings bank, safe deposit company, mutual savings bank without mutual stock, savings and loan association, credit union, or investment company. See Ohio Code 169.01
- Holder: means any person that has possession, custody, or control of moneys, rights to moneys, or other intangible property, or that is indebted to another, if any of the following applies:
(a) Such person resides in this state;
(b) Such person is formed under the laws of this state;
(c) Such person is formed under the laws of the United States and has an office or principal place of business in this state;
(d) The records of such person indicate that the last known address of the owner of such moneys, rights to moneys, or other intangible property is in this state;
(e) The records of such person do not indicate the last known address of the owner of the moneys, rights to moneys, or other intangible property and the entity originating or issuing the moneys, rights to moneys, or other intangible property in this state or any political subdivision of this state, or is incorporated, organized, created, or otherwise located in this state. See Ohio Code 169.01
- Income-bearing account: means a time or savings account, whether or not evidenced by a certificate of deposit, or an investment account through which investments are made solely in obligations of the United States or its agencies or instrumentalities or guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States or its agencies or instrumentalities, debt securities rated as investment grade by at least two nationally recognized rating services, debt securities which the director of commerce has determined to have been issued for the safety and welfare of the residents of this state, and equity interests in mutual funds that invest solely in some or all of the above-listed securities and involve no general liability, without regard to whether income earned on such accounts, securities, or interests is paid periodically or at the end of a term. See Ohio Code 169.01
- Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
- Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
- Mortgage funds: means the mortgage insurance fund created by section 122. See Ohio Code 169.01
- Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Unclaimed funds: means any moneys, rights to moneys, or intangible property, described in section 169. See Ohio Code 169.01
- United States: includes all the states. See Ohio Code 1.59
Securities and other intangible property transferred to the director shall, within a reasonable time, be converted to cash and the proceeds deposited as provided for other funds.
One-half of the funds evidenced by agreements, in income-bearing accounts, or on deposit with the treasurer of state shall be allocated on the records of the director to the mortgage insurance fund created by section 122.561 of the Revised Code. Out of the remaining half, after allocation of sufficient moneys to the minority business bonding fund to meet the provisions of division (B) of this section, the remainder shall be allocated on the records of the director to the housing development fund created by division (A) of section 175.11 of the Revised Code.
(B) The director shall serve as agent for the director of development and as agent for the Ohio housing finance agency in making deposits and withdrawals and maintaining records pertaining to the minority business bonding fund created by section 122.88 of the Revised Code, the mortgage insurance fund, and the housing development fund created by section 175.11 of the Revised Code. Funds from the mortgage insurance fund are available to the director of development when those funds are to be disbursed to prevent or cure, or upon the occurrence of, a default of a mortgage insured pursuant to section 122.451 of the Revised Code. Funds from the housing development fund are available upon request to the Ohio housing finance agency, in an amount not to exceed the funds allocated on the records of the director, for the purposes of section 175.05 of the Revised Code. Funds from the minority business bonding fund are available to the director of development upon request to pay obligations on bonds the director writes pursuant to section 122.88 of the Revised Code; except that, unless the general assembly authorizes additional amounts, the total maximum amount of moneys that may be allocated to the minority business bonding fund under this division is ten million dollars.
When funds are to be disbursed, the appropriate agency shall call upon the director to transfer the necessary funds to it. The director shall first withdraw the funds paid by the holders and deposited with the treasurer of state or in a financial institution as agent for the funds. Whenever these funds are inadequate to meet the request, the director shall provide for a withdrawal of funds, within a reasonable time and in the amount necessary to meet the request, from financial institutions in which the funds were retained or placed by a holder and from other holders who have retained funds, in an equitable manner as the director prescribes. In the event that the amount to be withdrawn from any one holder is less than five hundred dollars, the amount to be withdrawn is at the director’s discretion. The director shall then transfer to the agency the amount of funds requested.
Funds deposited in the unclaimed funds trust fund are subject to call by the director when necessary to pay claims the director allows under section 169.08 of the Revised Code, in accordance with the director’s rules, to defray the necessary costs of making publications this chapter requires and to pay other operating and administrative expenses the department of commerce incurs in the administration and enforcement of this chapter.
The unclaimed funds trust fund shall be assessed a proportionate share of the administrative costs of the department of commerce in accordance with procedures the director of commerce prescribes. The assessment shall be paid from the unclaimed funds trust fund to the division of administration fund.
(C) Earnings on the accounts in financial organizations to the credit of the mortgage funds shall, at the option of the financial organization, be credited to the accounts at times and at rates as earnings are paid on other accounts of the same classification held in the financial organization or paid to the director. The director shall be notified annually, and at other times as the director may request, of the amount of the earnings credited to the accounts. Interest on unclaimed funds a holder retains shall be paid to the director or credited as specified in the agreement under which the organization retains the funds. Interest payable to the director under an agreement to invest unclaimed funds in income-bearing accounts or obligations of the United States shall be paid annually by the holder to the director. Any earnings or interest the director receives under this division shall be deposited in and credited to the mortgage funds.
Last updated July 30, 2021 at 3:56 PM