Requires solicitations and agreements to locate and retrieve abandoned property to provide certain disclosures in large type on the first page of any notice or agreement.
Summary
A03372 would strengthen disclosure requirements for companies and other entities that offer to locate or recover abandoned property, also known as unclaimed funds. The bill amends the Abandoned Property Law and General Business Law to require that certain consumer notices be presented more prominently: the required warning must appear in at least 16-point bold type, and on the first page of any agreement or solicitation, rather than in smaller type or buried later in the document. The disclosure informs consumers that abandoned funds held by the state can be claimed directly from the Office of the State Comptroller without paying a fee.
The measure is aimed at making it harder for paid finders or locator services to obscure the fact that owners can recover their own funds for free. It applies to solicitations and agreements for abandoned property location services involving property held by the state comptroller, and it would take effect 30 days after enactment.
Impact
The bill would amend section 1416 of the Abandoned Property Law and section 393-e of the General Business Law to impose stronger formatting and placement requirements on mandated consumer disclosures. In practice, it would require businesses that market abandoned property recovery services to prominently warn consumers that they can contact the State Comptroller directly to claim funds without paying a fee, and it would require that warning to appear on the first page of agreements and solicitations in larger bold type. The affected parties are companies that sell abandoned property location services and consumers who may be targeted by those services, especially owners of unclaimed funds held by New York State.
Sentiment
The available context suggests a generally consumer-protection-oriented and likely favorable posture toward the bill, with no recorded opposition in the provided materials. The bill’s sponsors appear to be responding to concerns that consumers may be misled into paying for services they do not need. Because there are no committee transcripts or votes included, there is no direct evidence of debate, amendments, or divided sentiment in the supplied record.
Contention
The main point of contention implied by the bill is whether paid abandoned-property locator services should be required to give a more prominent warning that the state offers a free direct-claim process. Consumer advocates would likely support the change as a transparency measure, while businesses in the abandoned-property recovery industry could view it as burdensome or as reducing their ability to market services. The bill also reflects a policy tension between consumer access to information and the commercial interests of firms that charge fees to recover unclaimed property.
Requires solicitations and agreements to locate and retrieve abandoned property to provide certain disclosures in large type on the first page of any notice or agreement.
Automatic renewal agreements; disclosures and notice required, prohibits obstruction or delay of cancelling agreements, authorizes Attorney General to enforce, penalties provided