2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 102 - General Cooperative Associations Act (2004) › Subchapter XII - Receivership or Dissolution of Cooperatives (§§ 4550 — 4569) › § 4568 - Judicial consignment and notification

When, upon the dissolution of a cooperative, it is not possible to locate those persons entitled to receive assets, or it is not possible to determine to whom said assets correspond, the Inspector of Cooperatives is authorized to consign the aforesaid judicially, free of charge, through the procedure established below:
(a) The board of receivers appointed by the Inspector of Cooperatives for the dissolution of the cooperative shall evidence through sworn statements the reasonable measures taken to locate the members or persons entitled to receive assets.
(b) If the last address of the member is known, the board of receivers shall send him/her a certified letter with return receipt requested indicating to the member the dissolution procedures of the cooperative and his/her right to claim his/her share of the assets. If there are insufficient funds in the cooperative, or the assets of the member are less than fifty dollars ($50), the member shall be notified by regular mail.
(c) If within thirty (30) days from the notification established in subsection (b) of this section the member does not claim his/her share of the assets, his/her whereabouts are unknown, or the persons to whom the assets belong are unknown, the Inspector of Cooperatives shall file a petition of consignment accompanied by the sworn statement of the liquidation receiver, as established in subsection (a) of this section, with a request for publication of a notice in a newspaper of general circulation.
(d) Once it is shown that the reasonable action has been taken to locate the persons entitled to receive assets and that their location is unknown or otherwise that it cannot be determined who is entitled to such assets to the satisfaction of the court by means of a sworn statement by the liquidation receiver, the court shall order the publication of a notice in a newspaper of general daily circulation in Puerto Rico and shall excuse the Inspector of Cooperatives from sending by regular mail or by certified mail with return receipt requested a copy of the petition of consignment to the persons entitled to receive the assets.
(e) The content of the edict shall contain the following information:
(1) Title — Summons by Edict;
(2) Part of the Court of First Instance;
(3) case number;
(4) name of petitioner;
(5) name of the persons subpoenaed;
(6) nature of the petition;
(7) name, address and telephone number of the petitioner’s attorney;
(8) name of the person who issued the edict;
(9) date of issue, and
(10) thirty (30) days for the person thus subpoenaed to reply to the petition as provided in Rule 10.1 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, with an admonishment stating that if there is no reply to the petition by filing the original of the reply at the corresponding court and sending a copy to the petitioner, the person shall be held in contempt and the judgment shall grant the requested remedy without further subpoena or consideration.
The assets thus consigned and which have remained inactive for a period of five (5) years or more shall be transferred to the Research Fund for Cooperatives of the Office of the Inspector of Cooperatives of Puerto Rico.
History —Sept. 1, 2004, No. 239, § 32.6.