GA Code § 44-12-192 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 44 - Property|Chapter 12 - Rights in Personalty|Article 5 - Disposition of Unclaimed Property|§ 44-12-192. Definitions

 As used in this article, the term:    "Apparent owner" means the person whose name appears on the records of the holder as the person entitled to property held, issued, or owing by the holder.   "Banking organization" means a bank, trust company, savings bank, industrial bank, land bank, safe-deposit company, private banker, or any other organization defined by federal law or the law of another state as a bank or banking organization.   "Business association" means any corporation, other than a public corporation, a joint-stock company, an investment company, a business trust, or a partnership or association for business purposes of two or more individuals whether or not for profit, including a banking organization, financial organization, insurance company, or utility.   "Commissioner" means the commissioner of revenue.   "Domicile" means the state of incorporation, in the case of a corporation incorporated under the laws of a state, and the state of the principal place of business, in the case of a person not incorporated under the laws of a state.   "Due diligence" means, but shall not be limited to, the mailing of a letter by first-class mail to the last known address of the owner as indicated on the records of the holder.   "Financial organization" means any savings and loan association, cooperative bank, building and loan association, or credit union.   "Holder" means a person, wherever organized or domiciled, who is:   In possession of property belonging to another;   A trustee in case of a trust; or   Indebted to another on an obligation.     "Insurance company" means an association, corporation, or fraternal or mutual benefit organization, whether or not for profit, which is engaged in providing insurance coverage of any type.   "Intangible property" means and includes:   Moneys, checks, drafts, deposits, interest, dividends, and income;   Credit balances, customer overpayments, gift certificates, security deposits, refunds, credit memos, unpaid wages, and unidentified remittances;   Stocks and other intangible ownership interests in business associations;   Moneys deposited to redeem stocks, bonds, coupons, and other securities or to make distributions;   Amounts due and payable under the terms of insurance policies; and   Amounts distributable from a trust or custodial fund established under a plan to provide health, welfare, pension, vacation, severance, retirement, death, stock purchase, profit sharing, employee savings, supplemental unemployment insurance, or similar benefits.     "Last known address" means a description of the location of the apparent owner sufficient for the purpose of the delivery of mail.   "Owner" means a depositor in the case of a deposit, a beneficiary in the case of a trust other than a deposit in trust, a creditor, claimant, or payee in the case of other intangible property, or a person having a legal or equitable interest in property subject to this article or his legal representative.   "Payable" means the earliest date upon which the owner of property could become entitled to the payments, possession, delivery, or distribution of such property from a holder.   "Person" means an individual, business association, government, governmental subdivision or agency, public corporation, public authority, estate, trust, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity.   "State" means any state, district, commonwealth, territory, insular possession, or any other area subject to the authority of the United States.   "Utility" means a person who owns or operates for public use any plant, equipment, property, franchise, or license for the transmission of communications or the production, storage, transmission, sale, delivery, or furnishing of electricity, water, steam, or gas.     (Code 1981, §44-12-192, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1506, § 1.)   Code Commission notes.   - Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1990, "safe-deposit" was substituted for "safe deposit" in paragraph (2).   RESEARCH REFERENCES   U.L.A.   - Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act (U.L.A.) § 1.   JUDICIAL DECISIONS   Gift certificates.    - Assessment of dormancy fees on gift cards and certificates and refusal to honor them after one year did not violate O.C.G.A. § 44-12-205 of the Georgia Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act (DUPA), O.C.G.A. § 44-12-190 et seq; as the cards and certificates had not been unclaimed by the plaintiffs for more than five years when the complaint was filed, they were not presumed abandoned, and DUPA did not apply. Simon Prop. Group, Inc. v. Benson, 278 Ga. App. 277, 628 S.E.2d 697 (2006), aff'd, remanded, 281 Ga. 744, 642 S.E.2d 687 (2007).