SB 634

Under current law, a person who holds property that has been determined to

be abandoned by the owner of the property must pay or deliver that property to the

Department of Revenue (department). If the person who holds the property fails to

pay or deliver the property within the time required by law, the person must pay

interest on the property or the value of the property at the annual rate of 18 percent

from the date the property should have been paid or delivered. Under this bill, the

department may only require a person to pay interest on the property if the person

has willfully neglected to pay or deliver the property in a timely manner. The bill also

changes the interest rate from 18 percent to 12 percent.

Under current law, a person may claim an interest in abandoned, intangible

property by filing a claim with the department. Intangible property is presumed to

be abandoned if it is held, issued, or owing in the ordinary course of a holder's

business and it has remained unclaimed by the owner for more than five years after

it became payable or distributable. Current law requires the department to consider

each claim within 90 days after the claim is filed. The department may also refer a

claim to the attorney general for an opinion on whether to either allow the claim or

deny the claim in whole or in part.

A person aggrieved by a decision of the department or whose claim has not been

acted upon within 90 days (claimant) may, under current law, bring an action to

establish the claim in circuit court. If, in circuit court, the claimant establishes the

claim against the department, the court must award costs and reasonable attorney

fees to the claimant.

This bill permits a claimant to petition for judicial review of the decision or

inaction of the department under chapter 227 of the Wisconsin Statutes; chapter 227

establishes uniform procedures for the review of administrative actions and

decisions. The bill also eliminates the mandatory award of costs and reasonable

attorneys fees to a claimant who prevails against the department in circuit court in

those cases in which the circuit court determines the department was substantially

justified in taking its position or in which special circumstances exist that would

make the award of costs and attorney fees unjust.