AAC-27-08-00004-A The Requirement of Acknowledged Signatures for Unclaimed Fund Forms and Agreements Submitted to the Comptroller

9/3/08 N.Y. St. Reg. AAC-27-08-00004-A

NEW YORK STATE REGISTER

VOLUME XXX, ISSUE 36

September 03, 2008

RULE MAKING ACTIVITIES

DEPARTMENT OF AUDIT AND CONTROL

NOTICE OF ADOPTION

 

I.D No. AAC-27-08-00004-A

Filing No. 814

Filing Date. Aug. 18, 2008

Effective Date. Sept. 03, 2008

The Requirement of Acknowledged Signatures for Unclaimed Fund Forms and Agreements Submitted to the Comptroller

PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following action:

Action taken:

Addition of section 129.1 to Title 2 NYCRR.

Statutory authority:

Abandoned Property Law, sections 1401, 1414, 1416

Subject:

The requirement of acknowledged signatures for unclaimed fund forms and agreements submitted to the Comptroller.

Purpose:

To ensure no confidential information pertaining to unclaimed funds is released to unauthorized persons.

Text of final rule:

Part 129 is added to Title 2 of NYCRR as follows:

PART 129

Acknowledgment Requirements for Filing Abandoned Property Claims

Section 129.1 General Provisions.

(a) The Comptroller shall not reveal any confidential information including the value of abandoned property to any claimant or their agent unless such person provides proof of an interest in the abandoned property and the following:

(i) a claim form, or other supplemental claim form deemed necessary by the Comptroller, signed by the person making claim and duly acknowledged by the person in the manner prescribed for the acknowledgement of a conveyance of real property in accordance with the Real Property Law;

(ii) in the case of claimant engaging the services of a finder for consideration, the finder must present to the Comptroller a finder agreement executed in accordance with section 1416 of the Abandoned Property Law signed by the claimant and such signature shall be duly acknowledged by the claimant in the manner prescribed for the acknowledgement of a conveyance of real property in accordance with the Real Property Law.

(b) Subdivision (a) of this section may be waived within the discretion of the Comptroller provided that the Comptroller determines that satisfactory proof has otherwise been submitted by the claimant establishing that the claimant is the owner of the abandoned property.

Final rule as compared with last published rule:

Nonsubstantial changes were made in section 129.1(a) and (b).

Text of rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:

Wendy H. Reeder, Office of the State Comptroller, 110 State Street, Albany, New York 12236, [phone], email: [e-mail]

Revised Regulatory Impact Statement

A Revised Regulatory Impact Statement is not attached because the changes to the rule are non-substantive in nature.

Revised Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

A Revised Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for Small Business and Local Governments is not attached because the changes to the rule are non-substantive in nature.

Revised Rural Area Flexibility Analysis

A Revised Rural Area Flexibility Analysis is not attached because the changes to the rule are non-substantive in nature.

Assessment of Public Comment

Most comments requested clarification as to how this rule differs from the Comptroller's Office of Unclaimed Funds' current practices. Prior to the adoption of this rule, the Comptroller had a longstanding policy of requiring that all abandoned property forms and finder agreements be notarized. This rule will formally adopt this requirement. In effect, this will institute prior procedures for the Office of Unclaimed Funds, claimants or finders by regulation. Other comments included concerns that this rule is not consistent with the Uniform Abandoned Property Act, that this regulation is contrary to law, and would and impose greater constraints on release of confidential information. First, the Uniform Abandoned Property Act has no bearing because New York has not adopted such law. Secondly, the regulation is consistent with the Abandoned Property Law because the law states that no confidential information may be released without first determining the claimant has an interest in the property. This rule sets a minimum standard for disclosure, while recognizing that, due to other indicia of ownership provided by the claimant or finder, the notarization may not be required to prove an interest in the property and therefore such requirement may be waived. Finally, the rule will not impose any greater obstacle to the recovery of abandoned funds. As stated above, this rule merely formalizes the Office of Unclaimed Funds' longstanding procedures. No other alternatives were offered via the comments and no other alternatives have been explored because this rule is consistent with New York law and sets a minimum standard with which all persons can readily comply.