Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1535 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Watson S.B. No. 1535
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2011; March 22, 2011, read
3	3	first time and referred to Committee on Finance; April 11, 2011,
4	4	reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 2;
5	5	April 11, 2011, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to unclaimed property.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 72, Property Code, is
13	13	amended by adding Section 72.1025 to read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 72.1025. CLASS ACTION PROCEEDS. (a) In this section:
15	15	(1) "Class action proceeds" means a negotiable
16	16	instrument, including a check, or other intangible property issued
17	17	or made payable to a person who is a member of the class or a
18	18	participant in the class action to satisfy, wholly or partly, a
19	19	judgment in a class action or a class action settlement agreement.
20	20	(2) "Holder" means a court, a settlement
21	21	administrator, or any other person in possession of class action
22	22	proceeds at the time the proceeds are presumed abandoned.
23	23	(b) Class action proceeds are presumed abandoned if the
24	24	proceeds are unclaimed on or before the 90th day after the date the
25	25	proceeds were made payable and available to the members of the
26	26	class, unless a different abandonment period is established by the
27	27	court or the settlement agreement.
28	28	(c) Notwithstanding Sections 74.101(a) and 74.301(a), a
29	29	holder shall deliver class action proceeds, accompanied by a
30	30	property report under Section 74.101, to the comptroller not later
31	31	than the 60th day after the date the proceeds are presumed
32	32	abandoned.
33	33	(d) Sections 74.1011 and 74.103 do not apply to a holder
34	34	under this section.
35	35	(e) To the extent this section conflicts with any other law,
36	36	this section controls.
37	37	SECTION 2. Section 74.501, Property Code, is amended by
38	38	amending Subsections (d) and (e) and adding Subsections (d-1) and
39	39	(e-1) to read as follows:
40	40	(d) On receipt of a claim form and all necessary
41	41	documentation and as may be appropriate under the circumstances,
42	42	the comptroller may approve the claim of:
43	43	(1) the reported owner of the property;
44	44	(2) if the reported owner died testate:
45	45	(A) the appropriate legal beneficiaries of the
46	46	owner as provided by the last will and testament of the owner that
47	47	has been accepted into probate or filed as a muniment of title; or
48	48	(B) the executor of the owner's last will and
49	49	testament who holds current letters testamentary;
50	50	(3) if the reported owner died intestate:
51	51	(A) the legal heirs of the owner as provided by
52	52	Section 38, Texas Probate Code; or
53	53	(B) the court-appointed administrator of the
54	54	owner's estate;
55	55	(4) the legal heirs of the reported owner as
56	56	established by an affidavit of heirship order signed by a judge of
57	57	the county probate court or by a county judge;
58	58	(5) if the reported owner is a minor child or an adult
59	59	who has been adjudged incompetent by a court of law, the parent or
60	60	legal guardian of the child or adult;
61	61	(6) if the reported owner is an active [a]
62	62	corporation:
63	63	(A) the president of the corporation or chair or
64	64	officer of the board of directors of the corporation, on behalf of
65	65	the corporation; [or]
66	66	(B) any person who is legally authorized by the
67	67	corporation, through the corporation's bylaws or a resolution of
68	68	the corporation's board of directors, [has legal authority] to act
69	69	on behalf of the corporation; or
70	70	(C) the corporation's bankruptcy trustee or
71	71	other person under current appointment by the bankruptcy court to
72	72	manage the corporation's bankruptcy estate, if the corporation is
73	73	or has been a debtor in bankruptcy;
74	74	(7) if the reported owner is a domestic entity, as
75	75	defined by Section 1.002, Business Organizations Code,
76	76	[corporation] that has been dissolved, terminated as provided by
77	77	Section 11.251 of that code, or liquidated or is a foreign entity,
78	78	as defined by Section 1.002 of that code, whose registration to
79	79	transact business in this state has been revoked:
80	80	(A) the sole surviving shareholder or owner of
81	81	the entity [corporation], if there is only one surviving
82	82	shareholder or owner;
83	83	(B) the surviving shareholders or owners of the
84	84	entity [corporation] in proportion to their ownership of the entity
85	85	[corporation], if there is more than one surviving shareholder or
86	86	owner;
87	87	(C) the entity's [corporation's] bankruptcy
88	88	trustee or other person under current appointment by the bankruptcy
89	89	court to manage the entity's bankruptcy estate; [or]
90	90	(D) a receiver appointed for a domestic entity by
91	91	a court under Section 11.404 or 11.405, Business Organizations
92	92	Code, or other law, except a receiver described by Subsection (e)
93	93	[the court-ordered receiver for the corporation]; or
94	94	(E) a receiver appointed for a foreign entity by
95	95	a court under Section 11.410, Business Organizations Code, or other
96	96	law, except a receiver described by Subsection (e); or
97	97	(8) any other person authorized [that is entitled] to
98	98	receive the unclaimed property under rules adopted by the
99	99	comptroller [other law or comptroller policy].
100	100	(d-1) In Subsection (d)(6), "active corporation" means:
101	101	(1) a domestic corporation that is not a terminated
102	102	entity, as defined by Section 11.001, Business Organizations Code,
103	103	and has not been terminated under the corporation's governing
104	104	documents; or
105	105	(2) a foreign entity, as defined by Section 1.002,
106	106	Business Organizations Code, that is registered or otherwise
107	107	authorized to transact business in this state under Chapter 9,
108	108	Business Organizations Code.
109	109	(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (d), except [Except] as
110	110	provided by Subsection (f), the comptroller may not pay to the
111	111	following persons a claim to which this section applies:
112	112	(1) a creditor, a judgment creditor, a lienholder, or
113	113	an assignee of the reported owner or of the owner's heirs; [or]
114	114	(2) a person holding a power of attorney from the
115	115	reported owner or the owner's heirs; or
116	116	(3) a receiver, agent, assignee, representative, or
117	117	other person acting on behalf of a person described by Subdivision
118	118	(1).
119	119	(e-1) The comptroller may challenge the validity of a
120	120	receivership order in the court that issued the order or in a
121	121	district court in Travis County.
122	122	SECTION 3. (a) Section 72.1025, Property Code, as added by
123	123	this Act, applies only to proceeds from a class action commenced on
124	124	or after the effective date of this Act. Proceeds from a class
125	125	action commenced before the effective date of this Act are governed
126	126	by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this
127	127	Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
128	128	(b) Section 74.501, Property Code, as amended by this Act,
129	129	applies only to a claim for unclaimed property filed on or after the
130	130	effective date of this Act. A claim filed before the effective date
131	131	of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
132	132	effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
133	133	that purpose.
134	134	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
135	135	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
136	136	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
137	137	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
138	138	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
139	139	* * * * *