(a)  All intangible property, including, but not limited to securities, principal, interest, dividends, or other earnings thereon, less any lawful charges, held by a business association, federal, state or local government or governmental subdivision, agency or entity, or any other person or entity, regardless of where the holder may be found, if the owner has not claimed the property or corresponded in writing with the holder concerning the property within three (3) years after the date prescribed for payment or delivery by the issuer, unless the holder is a state that has taken custody pursuant to its own unclaimed property laws, in which case no additional period of holding beyond that of the state is necessary under this section, is presumed abandoned and subject to the custody of this state as unclaimed property if:

(1)  The last known address of the owner is unknown: and

(2)  The person or entity originating or issuing the intangible property is this state or any political subdivision of this state, or is incorporated, organized, created, or otherwise located in this state.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 33-21.1-3.1

  • Business association: means a public corporation, a non-public corporation, joint stock company, investment company, business trust, partnership, or association for business purposes of two (2) or more individuals, whether or not for profit, including a banking organization, financial organization, insurance company, or utility, but not including hospitals, private, nonprofit institutions of higher education, and other domestic charitable corporations as those terms are defined in this section. See Rhode Island General Laws 33-21.1-1
  • Holder: means a person, wherever organized or domiciled, who is:

    (i)  In possession of property belonging to another,

    (ii)  A trustee, or

    (iii)  Indebted to another on an obligation. See Rhode Island General Laws 33-21.1-1

  • in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
  • Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
  • Intangible property: includes :

    (i)  Money, checks, drafts, deposits, interest, dividends, income, and bonds;

    (ii)  Credit balances, customer overpayments, security deposits, refunds, credit memos, unpaid wages, unused airline tickets, unclaimed pari-mutuel tickets, and unidentified remittances;

    (iii)  Stocks and other intangible ownership interests in business associations;

    (iv)  Money deposited to redeem stocks, bonds, coupons, and other securities, or to make distributions;

    (v)  Amounts due and payable under the terms of insurance policies; and

    (vi)  Amounts distributable from a trust or custodial fund established under a plan to provide health, welfare, pension, vacation, severance, retirement, death, stock purchase, profit sharing, employee savings, supplemental unemployment insurance, or similar benefits. See Rhode Island General Laws 33-21.1-1

  • Last known address: means a description of the location of the apparent owner sufficient for the purpose of the delivery of mail. See Rhode Island General Laws 33-21.1-1
  • Owner: means a depositor in the case of a deposit, a beneficiary in the case of a trust other than a deposit in trust, a creditor, claimant, or payee in the case of other intangible property, or a person having a legal or equitable interest in property subject to this chapter or his or her legal representative. See Rhode Island General Laws 33-21.1-1
  • Person: means an individual, business association, state or other government, governmental subdivision or agency, public corporation, public authority, estate, trust, two (2) or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 33-21.1-1
  • State: means any state, district, commonwealth, territory, insular possession, or any other area subject to the legislative authority of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 33-21.1-1

(b)  The provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply to property which is or may be presumed abandoned and subject to the custody of this state pursuant to any other section of this title or any other provision of law.

(c)  The provisions of subsection (a) shall apply to all property held at the time of enactment, or at any time thereafter, regardless of when the property became or becomes presumptively abandoned.

History of Section.
P.L. 1993, ch. 9, § 1.