Unclaimed property laws exist in every state and generally require businesses that are holding property, including intangible financial obligations like customer or vendor account balances, to report and turn that property over to the state after a period of time.

State audits under these laws are arduous and states are authorized by law to search back as far as the 1980s for unreported unclaimed property. Interest and penalties may apply. Yet many business clients are not aware of their obligations under these laws or the breadth with which some states interpret them.

Our unclaimed property experience has included counseling multiple Fortune 50 and smaller companies on unclaimed property law compliance, such as the impact of these laws on the design and implementation of gift card, prepaid services, loyalty and other promotional programs. We represent clients in unclaimed property audits, ensuring audit fairness, minimizing the interference of the audit on our clients’ businesses, and acting as a check on the reliability of statistical sampling models the states and their auditors utilize. We are also one of the few law firms in the United States with in-court experience litigating unclaimed property issues.