Senate Study Bill 1167 - Introduced SENATE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE BILL BY CHAIRPERSON DANDEKAR) A BILL FOR An Act relating to activities of licensed private investigation 1 businesses in regard to abandoned property. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2011XC (2) 84 av/nh

S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 556.11, subsections 8 through 10, Code 1 2011, are amended to read as follows: 2 8. a. A holder required to file a report under this section 3 shall maintain its records containing the information required 4 to be included in the report until the holder files the report 5 and for four years after the date of filing, unless a shorter 6 time is provided in paragraph “b” or by rule of the treasurer of 7 state while the property remains unclaimed . 8 b. A business association that sells, issues, or provides 9 to others for sale or issue in this state, traveler’s checks, 10 money orders, or similar written instruments other than 11 third-party bank checks, on which the business association is 12 directly liable, shall maintain a record of the instruments 13 while they remain outstanding, indicating the state and date of 14 issue , for four years after the date of filing . 15 9. Other than the notice to owners required by subsection 5 , 16 published notice required by section 556.12, subsection 1 , and 17 other discretionary means employed by the treasurer of state 18 for notifying owners of the existence of abandoned property, 19 all information provided in reports shall be confidential, 20 unless written consent from the person entitled to the property 21 is obtained by the treasurer of state , and may or unless 22 written request is filed with the treasurer of state by a 23 person licensed as a private investigation business located 24 in Iowa pursuant to chapter 80A, excluding a person with a 25 temporary permit received under section 80A.18. Information in 26 reports may also be disclosed only to governmental agencies for 27 the purposes of returning abandoned property to its owners or 28 to those individuals who appear to be the owner of the property 29 or otherwise have a valid claim to the property. However, 30 a social security number contained in such a report shall be 31 maintained as a confidential record and shall be redacted prior 32 to the release of any information to a person licensed as a 33 private investigation business. 34 10. All agreements to pay compensation to recover or assist 35 -1- LSB 2011XC (2) 84 av/nh 1/ 3

S.F. _____ in the recovery of property reported under this section , made 1 within twenty-four months after the date payment or delivery 2 is made under section 556.13 , are unenforceable. However, 3 such agreements made after twenty-four months from the date 4 of payment or delivery are valid if the fee or compensation 5 agreed upon is not more than fifteen twenty-five percent of the 6 recoverable property, the agreement is in writing and signed 7 by the owner, and the writing discloses the nature and value 8 of the property and the name and address of the person in 9 possession. A person shall not attempt to collect or collect a 10 fee or compensation for discovering property presumed abandoned 11 under this chapter unless the person is licensed as a private 12 investigation business located in Iowa pursuant to chapter 13 80A , excluding a person with a temporary permit received under 14 section 80A.18 . This section does not prevent an owner from 15 asserting, at any time, that an agreement to locate property 16 is based upon excessive or unjust consideration. This section 17 does not apply to an owner who has a bona fide fee contract with 18 a practicing attorney and counselor as described in chapter 19 602, article 10 . 20 EXPLANATION 21 This bill allows licensed private investigation businesses 22 located in Iowa to have access, upon request, to information 23 provided in reports to the state treasurer by businesses or 24 other entities that hold valuables that may be considered 25 abandoned. However, the treasurer must maintain social 26 security numbers contained in such reports as confidential 27 records and redact those numbers prior to the release of such 28 information to a licensed private investigation business. 29 The bill also requires businesses or other entities holding 30 valuables that are required to file reports to maintain their 31 records containing the information required to be included 32 in the report so long as the property is unclaimed or the 33 instrument remains outstanding, instead of for just four years 34 after the date of filing the report. 35 -2- LSB 2011XC (2) 84 av/nh 2/ 3

S.F. _____ In addition, the amount of the fee that may be charged by an 1 Iowa private investigation business is increased from 15 to 25 2 percent of the recoverable property. 3 -3- LSB 2011XC (2) 84 av/nh 3/ 3