1-1     By:  Haywood                                           S.B. No. 529
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 16, 1999; February 17, 1999,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
 1-4     March 15, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0; March 15, 1999,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 529                    By:  Brown
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to reporting and delivering unclaimed property to the
1-11     comptroller.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Section 74.102, Property Code, is amended to read
1-14     as follows:
1-15           Sec. 74.102.  SIGNED STATEMENT [VERIFICATION].  (a)  The
1-16     person preparing a property report shall provide with each copy of
1-17     the report a statement signed [verification made under oath and
1-18     executed] by:
1-19                 (1)  the individual holding the reported property;
1-20                 (2)  a partner, if the holder is a partnership;
1-21                 (3)  an officer, if the holder is an unincorporated
1-22     association or a private corporation; or
1-23                 (4)  the chief fiscal officer, if the holder is a
1-24     public corporation.
1-25           (b)  The statement [verification] must include the following
1-26     sentence:
1-27           "This report contains a full and complete list of all
1-28     property held by the undersigned that, from the knowledge and
1-29     records of the undersigned, is abandoned under the laws of the
1-30     State of Texas."
1-31           (c)  The comptroller may adopt rules or policies relating to
1-32     the signature requirement, as the comptroller determines
1-33     appropriate, to maximize the use of future developments in
1-34     electronic filing technology.
1-35           SECTION 2.  Subsection (c), Section 74.301, Property Code, is
1-36     amended to read as follows:
1-37           (c)  If the property subject to delivery under Subsection
1-38     (a)  is the contents of a safe deposit box, the comptroller may
1-39     instruct a holder to deliver the property on a specified date
1-40     before [after] November 1 [but before June 1] of the following
1-41     year.
1-42           SECTION 3.  Section 74.302, Property Code, is amended to read
1-43     as follows:
1-44           Sec. 74.302.  STATEMENT [VERIFICATION] OF DELIVERED PROPERTY.
1-45     (a)  Property delivered under Section 74.301 must be accompanied by
1-46     a statement [verification under oath] that:
1-47                 (1)  the property delivered is a complete and correct
1-48     remittance of all accounts subject to this chapter in the holder's
1-49     possession;
1-50                 (2)  the existence and location of the listed owners
1-51     are unknown to the holder; and
1-52                 (3)  the listed owners have not asserted a claim or
1-53     exercised an act of ownership with respect to the owner's reported
1-54     property.
1-55           (b)  The statement [verification] required by Subsection (a)
1-56     shall be signed by:
1-57                 (1)  the individual holding the reported property;
1-58                 (2)  a partner, if the holder is a partnership;
1-59                 (3)  an officer, if the holder is an unincorporated
1-60     association or a private corporation; or
1-61                 (4)  the chief fiscal officer, if the holder is a
1-62     public corporation.
1-63           SECTION 4.  Subsection (b), Section 74.101, Property Code, is
1-64     repealed.
 2-1           SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 2-2           SECTION 6.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-3     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-4     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 2-5     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 2-6     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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