§35-12-79. Custody by state; recovery by holder; defense of holder.

(a) In this article, good faith means honesty in fact in the conduct or transaction concerned.

(b) Upon payment or delivery of property to the Treasurer, the state assumes custody and responsibility for the safekeeping of the property. A holder who pays or delivers property to the Treasurer in good faith is relieved of all liability arising thereafter with respect to the property. The payment or delivery of property to the Treasurer shall operate as a full, absolute and unconditional release and discharge of the holder from any and all claims or demands of or liability to any person entitled thereto, or to any other claimant or state, and the payment or delivery may be pleaded as an absolute bar to any action brought against the holder by any other person entitled thereto, or by any other claimant or state. Once properly pleaded, the holder shall immediately and thereafter be relieved of and held harmless from any and all liabilities for any claim or claims which exist at the time with reference to the property or which may thereafter be made or may come into existence on account of or in respect to any such property. This section does not relieve the holder from any fine or civil penalty imposed pursuant to Section 35-12-92.

(c) A holder who has paid money to the Treasurer pursuant to this article may subsequently reestablish an account or make payment to a person reasonably appearing to the holder to be entitled to payment. Upon a filing by the holder that the property was remitted in error or upon proof of payment and proof that the payee was entitled to the payment, the Treasurer shall promptly reimburse the holder, unless the Treasurer already has paid a claim for the property, for the payment without imposing a fee or other charge. If reimbursement is sought for a payment made on a negotiable instrument, including a traveler's check or money order, the holder shall be reimbursed upon filing proof that the instrument was duly presented and that payment was made to a person who reasonably appeared to be entitled to payment. The holder must be reimbursed for payment made even if the payment was made to a person whose claim was barred under Section 35-12-88.

(d) A holder who has delivered property other than money to the Treasurer pursuant to this article may reclaim the property if it is still in the possession of the Treasurer, without paying any fee or other charge, upon filing proof that the apparent owner has claimed the property from the holder.

(e) The Treasurer may accept a holder's affidavit as sufficient proof of the holder's right to recover money and property under this section.

(f) If a holder pays or delivers property to the Treasurer in good faith and thereafter another person claims the property from the holder or another state claims the property under its laws relating to escheat or abandoned or unclaimed property, the payment or delivery may be pleaded as an absolute bar to any action brought against the holder by any other person entitled thereto or by any other claimant or state. Once properly pleaded, the holder is relieved of and held harmless against any and all liabilities on the claim resulting from payment or delivery of the property to the Treasurer.

(g) Property removed from a safe deposit box or other safekeeping depository is received by the Treasurer subject to the holder's right to be reimbursed for the cost of the opening if the holder includes the amount in its report of abandoned property. The Treasurer shall reimburse the holder out of the proceeds remaining after deducting the expense incurred by the Treasurer in selling the property.

(h) A record of the issuance of a check, draft, or similar negotiable instrument is prima facie evidence of an obligation. In claiming property from a holder who is also the issuer, the Treasurer's burden of proof as to the existence and amount of the property and its abandonment is satisfied by showing issuance of the instrument and passage of the requisite period of abandonment. Defenses of payment, satisfaction, discharge, want of consideration, statute of limitations, and other similar defenses are affirmative defenses that must be established by the holder.

(i) When property or funds are delivered to the Treasurer pursuant to this article, the Treasurer shall not be civilly or criminally liable for the receiving, holding, or returning of the property.

(Act 2004-440, p. 755, §1; Act 2013-91, p. 192, §1.)