If you’ve been in the unclaimed property industry for any length of time, you know Delaware has a reputation for being very tough on holders. They usually give no quarter when it comes to compliance issues with holders. I was pleasantly surprised when Delaware extended an olive branch to non-compliant holders. If you have any past due unclaimed property for Delaware, I strongly encourage you to jump on this rare opportunity while you can.

The bill passed July 11, 2012 and sunsets July 1, 2015. You can read it here.

Holders may enter into a voluntary disclosure agreement with the Delaware Secretary of State. There are some caveats. There are certain deadlines for finalizing the agreement and for making the required payments to the state. Holders who entered a VDA on or before June 30, 2012 are not eligible. Holders who have already received a notice of examination (a letter stating you will be under audit) are not eligible. Review the law carefully to see if you qualify.

As part of our continuing series of interviews with UPExchange users, our Roving Reporter traveled to Valparaiso, Indiana, to interview Sergeant Bud Gootee of the Porter County Sheriff’s Department. Sgt. Gootee became the Department’s business manager in 2007, after serving as a division commander in the Department’s police services.

His responsibility for unclaimed property reporting, an offshoot of his responsibilities as an inmate trust fund officer, has become a separate discipline, one Sgt. Gootee says would overwhelm the inmate trust fund officer with all that’s now required:

RR: I have to admit to being intrigued because I didn’t think that a sheriff’s office would be managing unclaimed property, so I’m about to learn something. What, precisely, is the nature of the unclaimed property you typically handle?

Many companies file their unclaimed property reports to get them over with and don’t give the data another thought. This isn’t the best policy as states require you to keep certain information for a certain amount of time. Failure to keep this information can be harmful to a company that comes under audit.

What should you keep? You’ll want to keep a copy of your owner data. This is the information for the unclaimed property you are reporting. You’ll want to keep this in a spreadsheet, other electronic means, or in your unclaimed property reporting software. If you reported small dollar amount items in the aggregate, make sure to keep a copy of any owner detail you have on hand. This will save you from having to spend a lot of time researching information if the state contacts you about a claim for a small dollar amount.   

You’ll want to keep a copy of the NAUPA file you submitted to the state and the cover sheet. Keep a copy of the cancelled check that was used to pay the state or your receipt if you made an ACH payment.