House File 3 - Introduced



                                       HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  ELGIN


    Passed House,  Date               Passed Senate, Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to activities of licensed private investigation
  2    businesses in regard to abandoned property.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  4 TLSB 1489HH 81
  5 mg/pj/5

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 556.11, subsections 9 and 10, Code
  1  2 2005, are amended to read as follows:
  1  3    9.  Other than the notice to owners required by subsection
  1  4 5, published notice required by section 556.12, subsection 1,
  1  5 and other discretionary means employed by the treasurer of
  1  6 state for notifying owners of the existence of abandoned
  1  7 property, all information provided in reports shall be
  1  8 confidential, unless written consent from the person entitled
  1  9 to the property is obtained by the treasurer of state, and may
  1 10 or unless written request is filed with the treasurer of state
  1 11 by a person licensed as a private investigation business
  1 12 located in Iowa pursuant to chapter 80A, excluding a person
  1 13 with a temporary permit received under section 80A.18.
  1 14 Information in reports may also be disclosed only to
  1 15 governmental agencies for the purposes of returning abandoned
  1 16 property to its owners or to those individuals who appear to
  1 17 be the owner of the property or otherwise have a valid claim
  1 18 to the property.
  1 19    10.  All agreements to pay compensation to recover or
  1 20 assist in the recovery of property reported under this
  1 21 section, made within twenty=four months after the date payment
  1 22 or delivery is made under section 556.13, are unenforceable.
  1 23 However, such agreements made after twenty=four months from
  1 24 the date of payment or delivery are valid if the fee or
  1 25 compensation agreed upon is not more than fifteen twenty
  1 26 percent of the recoverable property, the agreement is in
  1 27 writing and signed by the owner, and the writing discloses the
  1 28 nature and value of the property and the name and address of
  1 29 the person in possession.  A person shall not attempt to
  1 30 collect or collect a fee or compensation for discovering
  1 31 property presumed abandoned under this chapter unless the
  1 32 person is licensed as a private investigation business located
  1 33 in Iowa pursuant to chapter 80A, excluding a person with a
  1 34 temporary permit received under section 80A.18.  This section
  1 35 does not prevent an owner from asserting, at any time, that an
  2  1 agreement to locate property is based upon excessive or unjust
  2  2 consideration.  This section does not apply to an owner who
  2  3 has a bona fide fee contract with a practicing attorney and
  2  4 counselor as described in chapter 602, article 10.
  2  5                           EXPLANATION
  2  6    This bill permits licensed private investigation businesses
  2  7 located in Iowa to have access to information provided in
  2  8 reports of businesses or other entities that hold valuables
  2  9 that may be considered abandoned.  In addition, the amount of
  2 10 the fee that may be charged by an Iowa private investigation
  2 11 business is increased from 15 to 20 percent of the recoverable
  2 12 property.
  2 13 LSB 1489HH 81
  2 14 mg/pj/5