ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

GREG ABBOTT 

The Honorable Susan Combs 

Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts 

Post Office Box 13528 

Austin, Texas 78711-3528 

Dear Comptroller Combs: 

January 12,2012 

Opinion No. GA-0906 

Re: Whether section 74.501 of the Property Code 

prohibits the Comptroller from making direct 

payments of unclaimed property proceeds to 

certain persons (RQ-0988-GA) 

You request an opinion regarding who may receive direct payments of unclaimed property 

proceeds under section 74.501 of the Property Code. l You tell us that the Office of the Comptroller 

of Public Accounts ("the Comptroller") "has recently received a significant number of unclaimed 

property claims from claimants who have purchased unclaimed property or unclaimed property rights 

in proceedings before various courts of competent jurisdiction throughout the United States." 

Request Letter at 1. You also explain that your office has had a longstanding policy of not making 

direct payments to "assignees, transferees or purchasers of unclaimed property." Id. You therefore 

ask us to opine on whether, by enacting section 74.501 of the Property Code, the Legislature 

prohibited your office from paying claims to the purchasers of unclaimed property or unclaimed 

property rights. Id. 

Your office is prohibited by subsection 74.501 (e) "from paying assignees or any other 

type of purchaser of unclaimed property or unclaimed property rights." Id. Subsection 74.501(e) 

expressly prohibits the Comptroller from making payments for unclaimed property to the following 

individuals: 

(l) a creditor, a judgment creditor, a lienholder, or an assignee of 

the reported owner or of the owner's heirs; or 

(2) a person holding a power of attorney from the reported owner 

or the owner's heirs. 

lSee Letter from the Office of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, to Honorable Greg Abbott, Attorney 

General of Texas at 1- 2 (July 28, 2011), https:llwww.oag.state.tx.us/opinlindex_rq.shtml ("Request Letter"). 
The Honorable Susan Combs - Page 2 (GA-0906) 

TEX. PROP. CODE ANN. § 74.501(e) (West 2007) (emphasis added).2 You define the term "assignee" 

as used in subsection 74.501(e)(1) to include an individual who has purchased for value the 

unclaimed property of another and ask whether this definition is legally supportable. Request Letter 

at 1-2. 

We note at the outset that the Comptroller is charged with implementing and enforcing the 

statutory provisions relating to unclaimed property under the Property Code. See TEX. PROP. CODE 

ANN. §§ 74.701-.710 (West 2007 & Supp. 2011) (Title 6 "Unclaimed Property, Chapter 74, 

subchapter H, "Enforcement"). According to the Texas Supreme Court, an agency's interpretation 

of a statute it is charged with enforcing is entitled to "serious consideration," so long as the 

construction is reasonable and does not conflict with the statute's language. R.R. Comm 'n of Tex. 

v. Tex. Citizens for a Safe Future & Clean Water, 336 S.W.3d 619,624 (Tex. 2011). Keeping this 

rule in mind, we analyze the Comptroller's construction of the word "assignee." 

The word "assignee" is not defined within the Title 6 of the Property Code, which addresses 

unclaimed property. See TEX. PROP. CODE ANN. §§ 71.001-76.704 (West 2007 & Supp. 2011).3 

When the Legislature does not provide a specific definition for a word, we rely on the plain and 

common meaning of the word. Tex. Lottery Comm 'n v. First State Bank of DeQueen, 325 S.W.3d 

628,635 (Tex. 2010). Multiple dictionaries define "assignee" broadly to mean any person "to whom 

a right or property is legally transferred." I OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY 713 (2d ed. 1989); 

WEBSTER'S NINTH NEW COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY 109 (9th ed. 1990); see also Johnson v. 

StructuredAssetServs., L.L.c., 148 S.W.3d 711 , 721 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2004, no pet.) (describing 

"assignment" as "the transfer or setting over of property, or some right or interest."). These 

definitions do not specify how or why the transfer takes place, other than to require that the transfer 

be legal. It therefore appears that a reasonable construction of the word "assignee" could include a 

person to whom property is transferred based on a purchase of the property for value, regardless of 

whether that transfer is also incorporated into a court order. As the agency charged with enforcing 

section 74.501, the Comptroller's reasonable construction of the word assignee, as used in that 

statute, would likely be shown deference by the courts. 

2We note that subsection 74.501(f) allows the Comptroller to make an exception for individuals who have "a 

claim for child support arrearages" in specific instances. See TEx. PROP. CODE ANN. § 74.501(f) (West 2007). 

3Por purposes of other statutes, the Legislature has defined "assignee" in various ways. See, e.g., TEX. PROP. 

CODE ANN. § 64.001 (a) (West Supp. 2011 ) (defining "assignee" as "a person entitled to enforce an assignment of rents"); 

TEX. Bus. & COMM. CODE ANN. § 23.01(2) (West 2009) (defining "assignee" as "an assignee for the benefit of 

creditors"); TEx. UTIL. CODE ANN. § 39.302(1) (West Supp. 2011) (defining "assignee" as "any individual, corporation 

or other legally recognized entity to which an interest in transition property is transferred. other than as security, 

including any assignee of that party"). These definitions are each limited to use in the chapter in which they are found 

and provide little guidance for use outside of those chapters. 
The Honorable Susan Combs - Page 3 (GA-0906) 

SUMMARY 

As the agency charged with implementing and enforcing 

Property Code section 74.501, the Comptroller's construction of the 

word "assignee," as used in that section, would be shown deference 

by the courts so long as it is reasonable and not contrary to the plain 

language of the statute. A reasonable construction of the word 

"assignee" could include a person to whom property is transferred 

based on a purchase of the property for value. 

DANIEL T. HODGE 

First Assistant Attorney General 

DAVID J. SCHENCK 

Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel 

JASON BOATRIGHT 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Virginia K. Hoelscher 

Very truly yours, 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee