In preparation for Pennsylvania’s annual statutory unclaimed property reporting requirement on April 15, this notice is to inform Holders of the recent decision by the United States Supreme Court in the matter of Delaware v. Pennsylvania[1], and its impact on reporting requirements for certain prepaid written instruments designed to send funds to another party. The Supreme Court resolved a dispute between the state of Delaware and Pennsylvania involving the application of the Federal Disposition of Abandoned Money Order and Traveler’s Check Act of 1974.[2] The Court determined that prepaid written instruments sold by MoneyGram International were similar to money orders and therefore should have been reported, pursuant to the Disposition Act, into the custodial care of the state of purchase - not to the state in which MoneyGram was incorporated.


The unanimous decision of the Court established a two-part test to determine if similar written instruments are subject to the reporting requirements under the Federal Disposition Act. In particular, prepaid written instruments designed to send funds to another party are similar in form and function to money orders, and thus reportable under the Federal Disposition Act, when abandoned or unclaimed, if;


  1. It is a pre-paid written instrument of a specific amount commonly used to transmit funds to a named payee; and
  2. The holder does not maintain, in the ordinary course of its business, owner (purchaser) identity and address.

Under such circumstances, the Federal Disposition Act directs the holder to remit the property to the state in which the instrument was purchased, not pursuant to the common law rule, state of the holder’s incorporation. In its decision, the Court was particularly concerned with the “inequitable escheatment” of the property caused by the common law state of incorporation rule that the Federal Disposition Act was specifically enacted to prevent.


The Court’s decision resolving the applicability of the Federal Disposition Act applies to all future reporting of unclaimed property by holders. Accordingly, please do not hesitate to contact Treasury’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property (800-379-3999 or report@patreasury.gov) if you have any questions.

________________________

1 143 S.Ct. 696 (February 28, 2023).

2 12 U.S.C. §2501, et seq.


Banker holding jewery

Holder Reporting

Holders of Unclaimed Property are financial institutions, insurers, utilities, business associations, medical facilities, sole proprietors, fiduciaries, courts, public officers, government entities and all legal or commercial entities that must file a report with the Pennsylvania Treasury if they have reportable unclaimed property. Writing dormant accounts off into income does not negate the obligation to report and deliver unclaimed property. Under the Unclaimed Property Act, Holders have a duty to report property of value that is lost, forgotten, or held without activity by its rightful owner for a period of time defined by law.



Reportable Property and How to File

If you are a holder of unclaimed property and have held the property for the required dormancy period, it must be reported. All reports should be electronic. For more information, please refer to our Holder Reporting Booklet which includes instructions for preparing and filing tangible and intangible unclaimed property reports.


Due Diligence

Due Diligence is required in Pennsylvania effective September 10, 2016. Please see section 1301.10a from Pennsylvania’s statute for specific details.


A negative report is simple, one page report by a holder indicating they have no unclaimed property to report to the Pennsylvania Treasury. Negative reports are not statutorily required; however, since you have reviewed your books to determine no unclaimed property liability exists, we encourage you to take a few more minutes to file a voluntary negative report with Treasury. It is a quick and easy way to maintain a record of compliance with us.


The Bureau of Unclaimed Property encourages businesses to voluntarily comply with Pennsylvania’s Unclaimed Property Law by filing a report annually by April 15. For businesses that have never filed a report or may have overlooked certain property types, and would like to come into compliance, Treasury offers a Voluntary Disclosure Agreement to bring companies up-to-date with their annual filing while receiving a waiver of penalties and interest. Please note, this agreement must be signed by the business’ corporate officer and approved by Treasury prior to filing the report. This agreement is not needed if filing a negative report.


Create and File Your Report

HRS Pro Software

Free web based version. (99 property limit)

Your encrypted report can be uploaded to our secure holder website.

*Please note that you may use any software program that creates an encrypted NAUPA file.


You may securely upload your report using any NAUPA-formatted file using our Secure Online Reporting


All reports should be filed using electronic software. In the event that computer access is unavailable, you may mail a paper report with your remittance.


Payment Options

Remit by check made payable to Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Remit electronically by ACH Credit or Wire.

The electronic payment information will be available once you upload your report file through the Holders Login on our website. If you need the instructions before uploading the file please email your inquiry to report@patreasury.gov.

Holder Compliance

The Bureau of Unclaimed Property encourages businesses to voluntarily comply with Pennsylvania’s Unclaimed Property Law by filing a report annually by April 15. For businesses that have never filed a report or may have overlooked certain property types, and would like to come into compliance, Treasury offers a Voluntary Disclosure Agreement to bring companies up-to-date with their annual filing while receiving a waiver of penalties and interest. Please note, this agreement must be signed by the business’ corporate officer and approved by Treasury prior to filing the report. This agreement is not needed if filing a negative report.


If in the course of compiling your annual report of unclaimed property you find that you will not be able to get your report finished in time for the April 15th deadline, you can request an extension.


What do you need to do when you have property that has not yet reached the dormancy period and you’d like to report early? You’ll need to complete the Early Remittance Request form. Please be aware that property must be at least a year old before early remittance will be approved. Also, remember our dormancy period for the majority of unclaimed property is now three years, not five, so this may affect your need for early remittance.


An entity outside of the Pennsylvania Treasury Department is contacting Holders of Unclaimed Property with what appears to be a phishing scam. The suspect email thanks you for attending an event about unclaimed property and indicates that a “certificate” is ready for download.


This email did NOT originate from the Pennsylvania Treasury Department. You should NOT click on the link to download the “certificate.”


There is currently no evidence suggesting any unauthorized access to Treasury’s records of Holders of Unclaimed Property. If you ever have questions about the veracity of an email claiming to be from the Pennsylvania Treasury Department’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property, please contact us at report@patreasury.gov or 800-379-3999.


The legislature recently amended Pennsylvania’s Disposition of Abandoned and Unclaimed Property law (“Unclaimed Property Law”) to include language specifying that stock, dividends, and other passive investments are not reportable to Treasury until three years after the holder has “lost contact” with the owner. Act of June 22, 2018 (P.L. 281, No. 42). Effectively, the reporting requirements for these types of investment accounts are now consistent with the requirements pertaining to retirement accounts.


A holder is considered to have “lost contact” with an owner when two consecutive communications, sent by the holder to the owner via First Class U.S. mail, are returned to the holder as undeliverable. For owners who do not receive communications via U.S. mail, lost contact may also be established by the holder sending the owner communication via electronic mail no later than two years after the owner last indicated an interest in the property. If the holder receives a notification that the electronic communication was not received, or if no response is received within thirty days, the holder must send the owner communication through First Class U.S. mail. If that communication is returned as undeliverable, the holder is deemed to have lost contact with the owner. The inclusion of a “lost contact” standard is intended to prevent the reporting of securities that are not truly abandoned, but merely held in a passive investment account.


The legislature clarified that, if within that three year period, an owner indicates an interest in the property, such as increasing, decreasing, or accepting principal, the property is not considered to be unclaimed, and is therefore not reportable.


The legislature also included a requirement that, before reporting property to Treasury, holders must provide notice to owners in the manner described in Section 1301.10A of the Unclaimed Property Law.


Holders Remitting Funds and Reports

Post Office – standard first class and certified mail

  • COMMONWEALTH OF PENN UNCLAIMED PROPERTY
    P O Box 783473
    Philadelphia, PA 19178- 3473


  • 1 (800) 379 3999

Overnight (UPS, FedEx, Post Office) and all other Courier deliveries

  • LOCKBOX SERVICES (783473)
    COMMONWEALTH OF PENN UNCLAIMED PROPERTY
    2005 Market Street, 5th Floor
    Philadelphia, PA 19103-7042


  • 1 (800) 379 3999