Lawmakers hear bill to modernize Montana unclaimed-property law; bankers and credit unions back changes

The Senate Business and Labor Committee heard testimony in support of House Bill 164, a measure to modernize Montana’s unclaimed-property statutes. Proponents said the current law — written in its present form in 1995 — does not reflect electronic banking and creates situations where accounts are mistakenly presumed abandoned.

Representative Ken Walsh, sponsor of the bill, said the change would align statutory “triggers” for dormancy with modern customer behavior, so an account holder’s online activity or interactions with a mobile banking app count as activity that would prevent an account from being declared dormant and later turned over to the state. Sam Sill of the Montana Bankers Association told the committee the update would prevent property from being presumed abandoned simply because customers interact with accounts electronically rather than through paper transactions.

Credit unions also supported the proposal. Jesse Luther of Montana’s Credit Unions said the bill modernizes the statute and makes clear that multiple accounts held by one owner should be treated together for dormancy purposes. Bank and credit-union witnesses said the bill reduces administrative burden on financial institutions while improving the state’s ability to return funds to rightful owners.

Russ Christiansen from the Department of Revenue, which administers unclaimed property, told the committee the department is already holding roughly $148 million in unclaimed property and that efforts to improve the transaction portal (mycash.mt.gov) have made property easier to locate. He said the department supports efforts to make property returnable and searchable for owners.

Proponents said a modernized statute is intended to keep property with owners where possible, rather than automatically remitting smaller accounts to the state because of technical dormancy rules.