Opinion ID: 2075955
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Statute and Legislative History.

Text: Section 42-235(a) reads as follows: [a]ny person who fails to render any report or perform any other duty required under this chapter shall pay a civil penalty [38] of $100 for each day each report is withheld or each duty is not performed, but not more than $1,000 for each such violation. In discerning the meaning of Section 42-235(a), it is helpful to contrast it with Section 42-235(b), which provides that [a]ny person who willfully refuses to report, pay, or deliver abandoned property to the Mayor as required under this chapter shall be punished by a fine of not more than $300 or imprisonment for not more than 90 days ... The legislative history of Section 42-235 is somewhat sparse. According to the Judiciary Committee, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws concluded, following its consideration of existing abandoned property legislation, that the construction of the penalty provisions was the major weakness of the entire act. Many holders of abandoned property worth hundreds of thousands of dollars failed to file and surrender such property, because the risk of not filing was so slight. As a result, the holder could use the property advantageously. Since the property is withheld for economical [sic] reasons, there should be economical [sic] sanctions imposed. COMMITTEE REPORT, supra, at 35. Three significant questions arise regarding the meaning of Section 42-235(a). The first is whether the imposition of penalties following a finding that the UPA has been violated is mandatory or permissive. The second concerns the operation of the $1,000 upper limit per violation in light of the prescribed penalty of $100 per day. The third and most difficult is whether the failure to report or deliver each individual official check or account constitutes a separate violation giving rise to a separate penalty, as the District contends, or whether, as Riggs maintains, $1,000 is the maximum penalty which may be imposed for failing to report or deliver all of the property collectively. We address each of these questions in turn.