Department of Revenue seeks authority to automatically return small unclaimed property under $1,000

Representative Marta Bertoglio presented House Bill 88 at the Department of Revenue’s request to allow the agency to automatically return unclaimed property valued at less than $1,000 when it can validate a claimant’s identity and entitlement. The department currently requires an owner to file a claim to recover property; Deputy Administrator Renee Lemon said automatic return in certain cases would reduce administrative hurdles and get more property back to rightful owners.

Lemon told the committee the bill modifies 79‑8‑15 of the Montana Code (part of the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act) and sets three criteria for automatic payment: (a) the recipient is the apparent owner reported by the holder; (b) the department has validated the person’s identity and address (the department plans to use income‑tax data to validate information); and (c) the property value is less than $1,000. "We estimate about 90%" of unclaimed properties are below $1,000, she said.

Russ Christianson, unit manager for unclaimed property at the Department of Revenue, appeared as an informational witness to answer operational questions. Committee members asked about administrative cost and how often the department would run the program; Christianson said the department expects to integrate the work into current staffing and not request major additional resources.

The bill drew no recorded opponents in the transcript excerpt; proponents said the threshold of $1,000 was conservative compared with other states and would capture most small‑value items.