§ 1253. Deposit of funds; information concerning owner

(a) All funds received under this chapter, including the proceeds from the sale of unclaimed property under section 1252 of this title, shall forthwith be received by the treasurer, except that the treasurer shall retain in a separate fund an amount not exceeding $100,000.00 or 55 percent of the funds received during the previous year, whichever is greater, from which he or she shall make prompt payment of claims duly allowed by him or her as provided in this section. The treasurer shall record the name and last known address of each owner appearing on the holder's reports and the names and last known address of each insured person or annuitant and beneficiary, and with respect to each policy or annuity listed in the report of an insurance company its number, the name of the company, and the amount due. The record shall be available for public inspection at all reasonable hours.

(b) Before making a deposit to the credit of the general fund, the treasurer may deduct:

(1) expenses of a sale of unclaimed property;

(2) costs of mailing and publication in connection with unclaimed property;

(3) reasonable service charges;

(4) expenses incurred in examining records of holders of property and in collecting the property from those holders; and

(5) property valued at $100.00 or less more than 10 years after the abandoned property was received from the holder under section 1248 of this title shall be paid by the treasurer into the higher education endowment trust fund created by 16 V.S.A. § 2885 under authority of this subsection. For purposes of this subsection, the value of the abandoned property shall be that value as of the date the property was received from the holder by the treasurer.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, or of 1 V.S.A. chapter 5, subchapter 3, the treasurer may withhold information concerning an individual, or specific abandoned property, when in the treasurer's judgment it is necessary to assure that abandoned property is returned to the rightful owner, or to otherwise protect the owner. In addition, the treasurer may withhold information concerning individuals and abandoned property until notice has been provided in accordance with section 1249 of this title, deny requests for lists of owners in any format for 24 months after the date the property is paid or delivered to the treasurer, and withhold information concerning uncashed checks and other similar payment information prior to the property being presumed abandoned as set forth in section 1242 of this title. (Amended 2005, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2009, No. 13, § 1, eff. May 7, 2009; 2011, No. 162 (Adj. Sess.), § E.132.)