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Committee hears updates to state unclaimed‑property law, adds virtual‑currency rules and data‑matching authority
Summary
House Bill 1149 would update the North Dakota Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act to add dormancy rules for virtual currency, require liquidation before remittance, expand record‑retention for voluntary disclosures, permit database matching to mail checks, and ease multistate exam record sharing.
The Senate Industry and Business Committee heard testimony on House Bill 1149, a set of updates to North Dakota’s Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (RUPA) intended to preserve uniformity with the national model and speed return of property to owners.
Susan Summerfield, director of the Unclaimed Property Division in the Department of Trust Lands, told the committee the bill contains seven targeted changes to the statutory framework adopted in 2021. Those changes would:
- Create a 3‑year dormancy period specifically for virtual currency. - Add dormancy periods for excess proceeds from abandoned vehicle sales and tax‑related excess proceeds. - Require holders to keep records during a voluntary disclosure in the same manner as during an examination, and pause the statute of limitations while a voluntary disclosure is open. - Require holders to liquidate virtual currency and remit cash value to the state because the division cannot hold digital assets in native form. - Permit the division to compare its owner data with other state agency databases (for example tax or motor vehicle records) and, when a good match and current address are found, to mail checks directly to owners rather than requiring a full claims process. - Clarify how non‑state agencies can intercept property where an enforceable judgment exists, and - Remove a burdensome record‑sharing requirement during multistate examinations to reduce administrative costs.
Summerfield said the bill maintains the policy goal that abandoned property be used for public purposes while improvements to the statute will make reunification with owners faster and less costly. She noted the division deposits unclaimed funds into the state’s trauma schools trust fund and that the earned income helps K–12 education in North Dakota.
Rick Ledward, president and CEO of the North Dakota Bankers Association, testified in support and said member banks routinely turn over abandoned accounts to the state and back the amendments as clarifying, practical updates for holders. The bill includes an emergency clause so the division can mail checks quickly when matches are found.
Supporters urged a due‑pass recommendation so the division may begin matching data and issuing payments under the clarified rules. The committee posed questions about whether individuals who lose access to wallets could recover funds and how custodians would be expected to attempt contact before remitting unclaimed virtual currency; Summerfield said custodians must attempt to contact owners before turning property over, and the division expects the new dormancy and liquidation rules to apply when custodians are unable to locate owners.
No formal action was taken at the hearing; supporters asked the committee to advance the bill.
