Court Opinion

ID: 9707446
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 02:11:51.630937+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:32.894750
License: Public Domain

*476STEIN, J.,
dissenting.
I agree with the majority’s determination that the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (UUPA or Act) should be applied retroactively. Ante at 470, 591 A.2d at 917. I part company with the Court when it interprets the Act to require that the amount of money in an abandoned bank account be treated as confidential and hence not ascertainable by one in the business of tracking down the rightful owner. Ante at 475, 591 A.2d at 920. At oral argument, Twiss informed the Court that access to the amount due in unclaimed bank deposits is critical to the success of his enterprise, explaining that an abandoned bank account must contain a minimum amount of funds in order to make profitable the labor-intensive practice of locating heirs. Thus, the likely result of the majority’s interpretation of the Act will be to encourage heir hunters to take their business out of New Jersey. The practical impact of that decision favors the fiscal interest of the State treasury — to the tune of an estimated $25,000,000 per year, see ante at 464, 591 A.2d at 914 — over the public interest in locating the true owners of the unclaimed accounts. Notwithstanding that the current condition of the economy has taken a heavy toll on state budgets here and elsewhere, an interpretation of the Act that produces such a result bears careful scrutiny.
For many years, the Treasurer’s practice had been to disclose information contained in escheat records only to apparent owners and to withhold that information from heir hunters, ostensibly to prevent heir hunters from deceiving and defrauding the public. The Legislature enacted the UUPA in 1989 for the purpose of establishing comprehensive regulation of access to unclaimed property, and in the process provided for regulation of those engaged in heir hunting. Specifically, heir hunters are prohibited from entering into agreements to locate abandoned bank accounts for the time period beginning one year before the holder delivers the property to the State (nine years after the property is abandoned) and ending twenty-four months after the property is delivered to the State (twelve years after *477the property is abandoned). N.J.S.A. 46:30B-106. Further, heir hunters may not charge a fee greater than twenty percent of the value of the property recovered. Ibid. Presumably, the Legislature adopted those safeguards in order to regulate, not prohibit, the business of heir hunting.
As noted by the majority, the conflict in this case focuses on two sections of the UUPA, N.J.S.A. 46:30B-76 and -76.1. The former directs the Treasurer to “record the name and last known address” of the apparent owner of unclaimed bank deposits and to provide for the public inspection of that record. The latter provides that any information “deemed confidential under any New Jersey or federal law when in possession [of a bank]” remains confidential when delivered to the Treasurer. Because the bank-account balance was regarded as confidential under state and federal law, the majority construes those two sections to mean that although the name and address of the account owner may be disclosed, the amount due the depositor of an abandoned bank account is confidential and therefore not a public record. Ante at 471-473, 591 A.2d at 918-919.
Only two theories could be advanced to support the majority’s interpretation of the statute. One would be that the Legislature intended that account balances be withheld from heir hunters in order to advance the State’s financial interests and defeat the interests of the rightful owners. Obviously, we should be hesitant in imputing to the Legislature so self-serving a purpose. Cf. N. Singer, 2A Sutherland Statutes and Statutory Construction § 45.12, at 54 (Sands 4th ed. 1984) (noting that “departure from the literal construction of a statute is justified when such a construction would produce an * * * unjust result”). The other theory would be that the true owners of the accounts — most of whom are deceased or have long since forgotten that the accounts exist — and their heirs have an interest in protecting the confidentiality of the account balances from heir hunters in the business of locating those entitled to the money. The very statement of that proposition demonstrates the incongruity of recognizing an owner’s confi*478dentiality interest in the balance of an account not known to exist by that owner, particularly when disclosure of the balance might advance the owner’s chance to recover the funds. The Appellate Division observed that weakness in the State’s argument, presuming “implied consent by the depositor to this disclosure, which would obviously be in the interest of the owner of an unclaimed deposit.” 239 N.J.Super. at 360, 571 A.2d 333.
On that issue, the Appellate Division’s construction of the statute is both pragmatic and fair. We should not construe the statute to mandate a confidentiality interest in the balances of unclaimed accounts the existence of which is unknown to the true owners or their heirs.
I would affirm the judgment of the Appellate Division.
Justice CLIFFORD joins in this opinion.
For reversal and remandment — Chief Justice WILENTZ, and Justices HANDLER, POLLOCK, O’HERN and GARIBALDI — 5.
For affirmance — Justices CLIFFORD and STEIN — 2.