Pa. Treasury can help those with questions about new law

It was disappointing to read Tamara Salmon and the Investment Company Institute’s latest effort to spread misinformation about a recent change to Pennsylvania’s unclaimed property laws, which are among the oldest consumer protection laws in the nation and put in place a process to return abandoned or lost property to its rightful owners (“Pennsylvania Wants Your Retirement Account,” Sept. 18 Forum).

Ms. Salmon failed to note that the law was changed with the support of the Pennsylvania Bankers Association to provide greater clarity on how financial institutions (or “holders”) should maintain contact with retirement account owners, and to ensure surviving beneficiaries are made aware of and have access to retirement funds that they may not even know exist. Additionally, she didn’t mention that because of this change, financial institutions (including her member organizations) must now proactively attempt to locate and contact dormant retirement account owners and can no longer continue to assess and collect fees on retirement accounts that remain inactive for years.

To preclude retirement accounts from being reported as unclaimed property, the law outlines several simple actions that keep them active. These include merely logging on to the account, maintaining another active account at the same institution, receiving U.S. mail from the financial institution and depositing or withdrawing money from the account.

Importantly, while Pennsylvania Treasury becomes the custodian of any unclaimed property reported to the state, the property can be claimed by the rightful owners or their heirs in perpetuity. Treasury proactively seeks to find property owners and last year returned $160 million in unclaimed property to its rightful owners.

Treasury welcomes the opportunity to work with account holders to answer any questions they may have about the new law and ensure their compliance.

SCOTT SLOAT Director of Communications PA Treasury

Harrisburg