Breaking News: New Jersey Sued Over Unclaimed Property Legislation
According to the Bergen Record, American Express and the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association have separately filed lawsuits against the State of New Jersey seeking to invalidate parts of New Jersey's recently enacted changes to the state unclaimed property act. As Escheatable covered earlier, New Jersey's unclaimed property changes reduced the dormancy period for traveler's checks from 15 years to 3 years and applied the terms of the unclaimed property act to gift cards for the first time (applying a 2 year dormancy period).
According to the Record, the Amex lawsuit challenges the reduction of the dormancy period for traveler's checks, while the NJ Retailers' Association lawsuit seeks to invalidate the law's requirement that gift card purchasers obtain the owners' name and address. Both lawsuits challenge the New Jersey law on the grounds that the new law allegedly violates the Constitution's "due process" clause. We will post additional information concerning the lawsuit after we review a copy of the complaint.
According to the Record, the Amex lawsuit challenges the reduction of the dormancy period for traveler's checks, while the NJ Retailers' Association lawsuit seeks to invalidate the law's requirement that gift card purchasers obtain the owners' name and address. Both lawsuits challenge the New Jersey law on the grounds that the new law allegedly violates the Constitution's "due process" clause. We will post additional information concerning the lawsuit after we review a copy of the complaint.