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UPDATE: California denies gov’t motion; allows anonymous party to protect safe deposit box assets
On Friday, July 23, 2021, a federal district court in California denied the federal government’s motion to dismiss an individual’s lawsuit seeking the return of property held in one of the safe deposit boxes seized by the FBI in its raid. The plaintiff, identified by a fictitious name, alleged that the government intended to refuse…
Read MoreWhen it comes to unclaimed property overreach, when is far too far?
In early June, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of Tyson Timbs, finding that the state’s seizure of the convicted drug dealer’s infamous Land Rover amounted to an excessive fine, which was therefore unconstitutional. We first brought the Timbs v. Indiana[1] case to the attention of the unclaimed property community in April 2019, drawing…
Read MoreChancery Court Answers AT&T’s Call to Quash
The federal District Court for the District of Delaware’s holding in the 2016 Temple-Inland v. Cook[1] decision that Delaware had implemented its audit program in a manner that “shocked the conscience” is well-known to all abandoned property practitioners. Similarly, Delaware’s responsive law change in 2017, with provisions purportedly addressing the Temple-Inland Court’s constitutional concerns, has…
Read MoreICYMI: Jennifer Borden discusses the perils of losing investments to states via escheatment
Borden Consulting Group’s Jennifer Borden joined NPR’s “Planet Money” recently to discuss the perils of losing your investments to escheatment. Hosts Audrey Quinn and Kenny Malone discuss the real-life story of Walter Schramm, who lost a small fortune to the state when his investments were escheated because of inactivity. In 1995, Schramm bought about $6,000…
Read MoreThe SCRA and Securities: Protecting the Protectors
This article originally appeared in the January Newsletter of the Securities Transfer Association and is re-published here with the consent of the STA. It has been updated to reflect the April 7, 2020 enactment of SB-0125. by Jennifer C. Borden On April 7, SB-0125 was signed by the Governor of Michigan, clarifying the dormancy periods…
Read MoreGamblers beware: don’t let the government take the funds from your online accounts
by Jennifer C. Borden Attention online sports wagering and daily fantasy players: despite the fact that there is little to nothing that you can wager on right now, it doesn’t mean that you can forget about your online accounts. If you’re not careful, the money inside these accounts could be turned over to the government.…
Read MoreHello, Delaware? The Constitution is Calling
by Jennifer C. Borden & Jenna L. Bentley On December 6, 2019, AT&T filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware alleging violations of its rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, and violations of the Ex Post Facto Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The constitutional issues raised by AT&T…
Read MoreWith fall filing season on the horizon, do holders face added risk based on pending Raw Data Analytics case in New York?
In the late ‘90’s, the National Association of Unclaimed Property Advisors (“NAUPA”) endorsed a nationwide amnesty program in order to increase compliance with state unclaimed property laws. At the time, most holders were unaware of their annual escheat filing obligations and compliance was not widespread. NAUPA reasoned that educating holders on their statutory filing requirements, while…
Read MoreProhibition Against Excessive Fines: Problematic for Estimation?
What do an admitted heroin dealer and a holder under an unclaimed property audit have in common? Both may be subject to excessive civil penalties, particularly when the government seeks to raise non-tax revenue. In the case of the heroin dealer, the Supreme Court of the United States recently issued a 9-0 decision applying an analysis of…
Read MoreBorden: "States around the country are targeting foreign-owned shares for extra revenue"
The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted a major unclaimed property case with implications around the nation. The article addresses pending litigation regarding Delaware’s sale of stocks owned by two foreign investors. Delaware escheated the stock and liquidated it without notifying its owners, Dr. Gilles Gosselin and Dr. Jean Louis Imbach. Both doctors alleged that the state…
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