(a)  The administrator may enter into agreements with other states to exchange information needed to enable this or another state to audit or otherwise determine unclaimed property that it or another state may be entitled to subject to a claim of custody. The administrator by rule may require the reporting of information needed to enable compliance with agreements made pursuant to this section and prescribe the form.

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

  • Administrator: means the general treasurer or his or her designee, including agents hired for the express purpose of auditing, assessing and collecting unclaimed property. See Rhode Island General Laws 33-21.1-1
  • Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. Source: OCC
  • 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

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • 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)  To avoid conflicts between the administrator’s procedures and the procedures of administrators in other jurisdictions that enact the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, the administrator, so far as is consistent with the purposes, policies, and provisions of this chapter, before adopting, amending or repealing rules, shall advise and consult with administrators in other jurisdictions that enact substantially the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act and take into considerations the rules of administrators in other jurisdictions that enact the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.

(c)  The administrator may join with other states to seek enforcement of this chapter against any person who is or may be holding property reportable under this chapter.

(d)  At the request of another state, the attorney general of this state may bring an action in the name of the administrator of the other state in any court of competent jurisdiction to enforce the unclaimed property laws of the other state against a holder in this state of property subject to escheat or a claim of abandonment by the other state, if the other state has agreed to pay expenses incurred by the attorney general in bringing the action.

(e)  The administrator may request that the attorney general of another state, or any other person, bring an action in the name of the administrator in the other state. This state shall pay all expenses including attorney’s fees in any action under this subsection. The administrator may agree to pay the person bringing the action attorney’s fees based in whole or in part on a percentage of the value of any property recovered in the action. Any expenses paid pursuant to this subsection may not be deducted from the amount that is subject to the claim by the owner under this chapter.

History of Section.
P.L. 1986, ch. 500, § 3.