West Virginia Code 36-8-8 – Payment or delivery of abandoned property
(a) Except for property held in a safe deposit box or other safekeeping depository, upon filing the report required by § 36-8-7 of this code, the holder of property presumed abandoned shall pay, deliver, or cause to be paid or delivered to the administrator the property described in the report as unclaimed, but if the property is an automatically renewable deposit, and a penalty or forfeiture in the payment of interest would result, the time for compliance is extended until a penalty or forfeiture would no longer result. Property held in a safe deposit box or other safekeeping depository may not be delivered to the administrator until 120 days after filing the report required by § 36-8-7 of this code.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 36-8-8
- Administrator: means the State Treasurer. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
- Apparent owner: means a person whose name appears on the records of a holder as the person entitled to property held, issued, or owing by the holder. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
- Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
- Holder: means a person obligated to hold for the account of, or deliver or pay to, the owner property that is subject to this article. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
- Owner: means a person who has a legal or equitable interest in property subject to this article or the person's legal representative. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
- Person: means an individual, business association, financial organization, estate, trust, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
- Property: means tangible personal property described in section three of this article or a fixed and certain interest in intangible personal property that is held, issued, or owed in the course of a holder's business, or by a government, governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality, and all income or increments therefrom. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
- Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. Source: FDIC
- Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. Source: OCC
- Virtual currency: means a digital representation of value, including cryptocurrency, used as a medium of exchange, unit of account, or store of value, which does not have legal tender status recognized by the United States. See West Virginia Code 36-8-1
(b) If the property reported to the administrator is a security or security entitlement under article eight of the uniform commercial code, the administrator is an appropriate person to make an indorsement, instruction, or entitlement order on behalf of the apparent owner to invoke the duty of the issuer or its transfer agent or the securities intermediary to transfer or dispose of the security or the security entitlement in accordance with article eight of the uniform commercial code.
(c) If the holder of property reported to the administrator is the issuer of a certificated security, the administrator has the right to obtain a replacement certificate pursuant to article eight, section four hundred eight of the uniform commercial code, but an indemnity bond is not required.
(d) An issuer, the holder, and any transfer agent or other person acting pursuant to the instructions of and on behalf of the issuer or holder in accordance with this section is not liable to the apparent owner and must be indemnified against claims of any person in accordance with section 10 of this article.
(e) If the property reported is virtual currency, the holder shall liquidate the virtual currency anytime within 30 days of filing the report and remit the proceeds to the administrator. The owner shall have no recourse against either the holder or the administrator for any gain in value after liquidation.