Choice Plus, LLC has been a leader in advocacy and legislative reform since 2013. Our advocacy began that year when we attended the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) forum to update the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act. The forum was held in Washington DC and we attended as an approved observer. Observers provide input to the forum and propose amendments to further the program’s goal of maximizing the return of unclaimed property to its owner.
The forum was primarily made up of representatives and attorneys from the ULC, state unclaimed property administrators, and financial institutions that are required to turn unclaimed property over to state administrators. Choice Plus was one of only two companies representing private unclaimed property notification and recovery service providers. It became evident after a few forum sessions that recovery service providers would need to organize and develop fact-based advocacy positions to have meaningful impact.
In 2013, Choice Plus led a nationwide public records request project to obtain information from each state unclaimed property program regarding how much money had been received and returned since the programs’ inception. The objective was to see if return rates varied among states and, if so, why. Results showed that the success rate of programs varied from less than 15% to over 60%. The average return rate was 34.5%.
Also in 2013, Choice Plus became a member of the Unclaimed Property Professionals Organization (UPPO). UPPO is the nation’s largest unclaimed property trade association. The membership largely consists of financial institutions required to turn unclaimed property over to states as well as companies that provide support services to these financial institutions. We’re happy to report that recovery service providers continue to make up a growing portion of the membership.
In 2014, Choice Plus helped establish and to this day continues to oversee the Professional Claimants’ Representative Association, Inc. (PCRA). PCRA is a Florida based trade association established to monitor legislative activity and work to shape legislature and policies to ensure claimants have access to enhanced notification opportunities, expert claim documentation services, and access to financial resources provided by claimant’s representatives.
In 2015, Choice Plus was among several recovery service providers who presented a proposal to UPPO to create a new committee focused on advocacy. In 2016, the proposal was approved and the Claimant Representative Committee (CRC) was born and Choice Plus continues to be a significant contributor.
In 2017, the CRC conducted a new nationwide round of public records requests to get updated information from each state unclaimed property program regarding how much money had been received and returned since 2013.
In 2018, the CRC requested public records seeking information regarding how much money was discovered to have been paid to fraudulent claimants in each state. The study’s intent was to learn how significant the risk of paying fraudulent claims is in relation to the amount returned. Fraud prevention drives policymaking and the exaggeration of risk results in policies that are far more harmful to legitimate owners than the harm caused by claims paid to fraudulent claimants.
In 2022, the CRC conducted another round of public records requests to get updated information from each state unclaimed property program regarding how much money had been received and returned since 2017.
In 2024, the CRC hosted a webinar titled “Why Unclaimed Property Owners Benefit from access to Private Sector Notification and Recovery Resources”. Choice provided significant content to develop the webinar, which can be viewed here: webinar
In 2024, the CRC started work on a series of legislative whitepapers covering common policies that negatively impact recovery efforts. These policies include excessive restriction of account information, proof of ownership standards and practices, and access to private notification and recovery resources.
Choice Plus Legislative Activity
In 2016, legislation in Michigan (HNB 5283) was successfully implemented to help increase the return of unclaimed property.
In 2020, comprehensive legislation in Michigan (HEBS 5339 & 5340) was advanced which was projected to increase the return of unclaimed property by approximately 50%. The legislation passed the House and Senate but was vetoed by the Governor.
In 2023, comprehensive legislation in Georgia (SB 103) was successfully implemented that is projected to increase the return of unclaimed property by at least 5-fold. (Georgia’s return rate was around 11% and we expect the new law to allow the return rate to increase to around 60%)
In 2023, comprehensive legislation in Arizona (HB 2623) was advanced that was projected to increase the return of unclaimed property by approximately 50%. The legislation passed the House and Senate but was vetoed by the Governor.
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This case was based upon an Administrator’s long standing unlawful policy to by-pass estate administration when the deceased account owner had a trust. The law requires that assets that belong to a person that were not placed into the trust prior to the death of the trust creator can only pass to the trust through […]
Choice Plus argued that the word “shall” in the law made it mandatory for the administrator to determine claims within a specific time. The administrator argued that the word “shall’ was merely a suggestion. The appellant court ruled the “shall” imposed a mandatory requirement on the administrator to determine claims pursuant to the law. The […]
The unclaimed property administrator had refused to pay claims due to it’s improper interpretation of the trust terms and trust laws. Choice Plus LLC eased the trustee’s anxieties in the case through their extensive knowledge, and anticipated that the administrator would indeed deny the claim. Shortly after the administrator received the appeal, the claim was […]
Choice Plus funded a legal battle for unclaimed property against the Administrator for refusal to pay Ms. O’Conner and Ms. Morgan unclaimed property that belonged to their ex-husbands. Their ex-husbands had skipped out on spousal & child support obligations. Morgan was permanently disabled when her ex-husband shot her 8 times and fled from justice for […]
In 2005, Mrs. Rigley died. In 2007, a Probate Court determined that Mrs. Rigley died with no known heirs and ordered the assets of the estate paid to the State’s Chief Financial Officer for deposit into the State School Fund. MRS. RIGLEY IN FACT HAD 10 HEIRS. The attorney engaged by Choice Plus reopened the […]
