Title 27, Property and Conveyances

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Administrator" means the State Treasurer, his agents, or representatives. (2) "Apparent owner" means the person whose name appears on the records of the holder as the person entitled to property held, issued, or…

(A) A person who is required to file a report under Section 27-18-180 shall pay or deliver to the administrator all abandoned property required to be reported. (B) The holder of an interest under Section 27-18-110 shall deliver a duplicate certificate or other evidence of ownersh…

(A) Upon the payment or delivery of property to the administrator, the State assumes custody and responsibility for the safekeeping of the property. A person who pays or delivers property to the administrator in good faith is relieved of all liability to the extent of the value o…

Whenever property other than money is paid or delivered to the administrator under this chapter, the owner is entitled to receive from the administrator any dividends, interest, or other increments realized or accruing on the property at or before liquidation or conversion thereo…

(A) Except as provided in subsections (B) and (C), the administrator, within three years after the receipt of abandoned property, shall sell it to the highest bidder at public sale in whatever municipality in the State affords in the judgment of the administrator the most favorab…

(A) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the administrator shall promptly deposit in the general fund of this State all funds received under this chapter, including the proceeds from the sale of abandoned property under Section 27-18-230. The administrator shall retain i…

(A) A person, excluding another state, claiming an interest in any property paid or delivered to the administrator may file with him a claim on a form prescribed by him and verified by the claimant. (B) The administrator shall consider each claim within ninety days after it is fi…

(A) At any time after property has been paid or delivered to the administrator under this chapter another state may recover the property if: (1) the property was subjected to custody by this State because the records of the holder did not reflect the last known address of the app…

A person aggrieved by a decision of the administrator or whose claim has not been acted upon within ninety days after its filing may bring an action to establish the claim in the court of common pleas of Richland County naming the administrator as a defendant. The action must be …

(A) The administrator may decline to receive any property reported under this chapter which he considers to have a value less than the expense of giving notice and of sale. If the administrator elects not to receive custody of the property, the holder must be notified within one …

If the administrator determines after investigation that any property delivered under this chapter has insubstantial commercial value, the administrator may destroy or otherwise dispose of the property at any time. No action or proceeding may be maintained against the State or an…

(A) Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, all intangible property, including any income or increment derived therefrom, less any lawful charges, that is held, issued, or owing in the ordinary course of a holder's business and has remained unclaimed by the owner for more t…

(A) The expiration, after the effective date of this chapter, of any period of time specified by contract, statute, or court order, during which a claim for money or property can be made or during which an action or proceeding may be commenced or enforced to obtain payment of a c…

(A) The administrator may require any person who has not filed a report to file a verified report stating whether or not the person is holding any unclaimed property reportable or deliverable under this chapter. (B) The administrator, at reasonable times and upon reasonable notic…

(A) Every holder required to file a report under Section 27-18-180 as to any property for which it has obtained the last known address of the owner, shall maintain a record of the name and last known address of the owner for ten years after the property becomes reportable, except…

The administrator may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to enforce this chapter.

(A) The administrator may enter into agreements with other states to exchange information needed to enable this or another state to audit or otherwise determine unclaimed property that it or another state may be entitled to subject to a claim of custody. The administrator by rule…

(A) A person who fails to pay or deliver property within the time prescribed by this chapter may be required to pay to the administrator interest at the rate provided in Section 12-54-25 on the property or value thereof from the date the property should have been paid or delivere…

All agreements to pay compensation to recover or assist in the recovery of property reported under Section 27-18-180, made within twenty-four months after the date payment or delivery is made under Section 27-18-200 are unenforceable. It is unlawful for any person to seek or rece…

This chapter does not apply to any property held, due, and owing in a foreign country and arising out of a foreign transaction.

(A) This chapter does not relieve a holder of a duty that arose before the effective date of this chapter to report, pay, or deliver property. A holder who did not comply with the law in effect before the effective date of this chapter is subject to the applicable enforcement and…

The administrator may adopt necessary rules to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

Unless otherwise provided in this chapter or by other statute of this State, intangible property is subject to the custody of this State as unclaimed property if the conditions raising a presumption of abandonment under Sections 27-18-30 and 27-18-60 through 27-18-170 are satisfi…

This chapter must be applied and construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this chapter among states enacting it.

(A) Subject to subsection (D), any sum payable on a travelers check that has been outstanding for more than fifteen years after its issuance is presumed abandoned unless the owner, within fifteen years, has communicated in writing with the issuer concerning it or otherwise indica…

(A) Any sum payable on a check, draft, or similar instruments, except those subject to Section 27-18-50, on which a banking or financial organization is directly liable, including a cashier's check and a certified check, which has been outstanding for more than five years after i…

(A) Any demand, savings, or matured time deposit with a banking or financial organization, including a deposit that is automatically renewable, and any funds paid toward the purchase of a share, a mutual investment certificate, or any other interest in a banking or financial orga…

(A) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, a United States savings bond in the possession of the administrator or registered to a person with a last known address in this State, including a bond that is lost, stolen, or destroyed, is presumed abandoned and unclaimed five ye…

A person claiming a United States savings bond escheated to the State under Section 27-18-75, or for the proceeds from the bond, may file a claim with the administrator. The administrator may approve the claim if the person is able to provide sufficient proof of the validity of t…

(A) Funds held or owing under any life or endowment insurance policy or annuity contract that has matured or terminated are presumed abandoned if unclaimed for more than five years after the funds became due and payable as established from the records of the insurance company hol…

Unclaimed property payable or distributable in the course of a demutualization of an insurance company is presumed abandoned five years after the earlier of the date: (1) of last contact with the policyholder; or (2) the property became payable or distributable. This section does…

(A) A deposit, including any interest thereon, made by a subscriber with a utility to secure payment or any sum paid in advance for utility services to be furnished, less any lawful deductions, that remains unclaimed by the owner for more than one year after termination of the se…

The Secretary of State, in every case when, on his knowledge or belief or on the information of another, certain lands have been escheated to the State by the death of the person last seized in fee simple, either in law or in fact, without leaving any person who can lawfully clai…

At any sale of escheated property, if, in his judgment, the property is being sold at a sacrifice, the Secretary of State may buy the land for the Department of Administration or cause it to be so bid in and, upon payment of the costs accrued thereon, may cause the title deed to …

If any person shall appear within five years and make good title to such lands in the court of common pleas on an issue tried, he shall forthwith receive adequate compensation.

No property shall be vested in the State or any inquisition had by the escheator when any person shall have committed or may commit any felony against the State but such property shall descend to, and be vested in, the representatives of such person.

The judge presiding at such court shall cause a jury, being first duly sworn, to proceed and make a true inquest of all such supposedly escheated lands which by the Secretary of State shall be subjected to their investigation and a true verdict made thereon. Thereupon the judge o…

When any moneys or other personal estate shall be found in the hands of an executor or administrator, being the property of any person deceased leaving no person entitled to claim and without making disposition of them, the Secretary of State or the Attorney General, on behalf of…

The State Treasurer shall advertise such moneys or other personal property in some newspaper once in every month for six months in like manner as lands are herein directed to be advertised, and if no person shall appear and make good title to such personal estate within two years…

If any inmate of the Charleston Home die intestate leaving money or personal property, no one making claim for it within two years after the death of such inmate, such money or personal property shall become the property of the Home, to be expended by the board of commissioners f…

On the return of any inquest of supposedly escheated lands by the Secretary of State into the office of the clerk of the county in which the lands lie, the clerk shall thereupon cause to be advertised, in a newspaper of the county or other nearest gazette, the first week in every…

The duties of escheator are devolved upon the Secretary of State as agent of the Department of Administration and as escheator the Secretary of State shall act under the direction and control of the Department of Administration and, under the direction of the department, may use …

The Secretary of State shall not, directly or indirectly, either by himself or any person whomsoever, purchase or be concerned with any person in purchasing any escheated lands, without being subject and liable to the payment of five thousand dollars, to be sued for and recovered…

When any person shall appear and make title to lands or personal estate, after office found by the jury, the court may assess such reasonable costs and charges as the Secretary of State has sustained in promoting the claim of the State.

The Secretary of State shall turn over to the State Treasurer the net proceeds of escheats after deducting and retaining therefrom for the benefit of the Sinking Fund so much money as in the opinion of the State Department of Administration will reimburse the Sinking Fund for mon…

Nothing herein contained shall prejudice the rights of individuals having legal title and who may be under the disabilities of infancy or lunacy or beyond the limits of the United States until three years after such disabilities shall be removed.