P.R. Laws tit. 7, § 1366h
Unclaimed sums of money and other liquid assets held by a cooperative, or that have not been subject to any type of transaction whatsoever during five (5) consecutive years, except sums from share accounts, shall be transferred to the equity capital reserve or the indivisible capital item, at the option of the cooperative, after compliance with the requirements of notification to the Corporation provided herein. For the purposes of this section, the imposition of service fees or the payment of interest or dividends shall not be deemed as a transaction or activity of the account. The five (5)-year term shall start counting from the date of the last transaction, in the case of instruments with no maturity date, and in the case of those that do have a maturity date, the five (5)-year term shall start counting from the date of their maturity.
On or before sixty (60) days after the end of the fiscal year of each cooperative, the latter shall have the obligation of notifying the owners of inactive accounts that these shall be transferred. This notification shall be through the publication of a list displayed in a visible place in the branches and service offices of the cooperative for a period of ninety (90) consecutive days. Simultaneously, a notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in Puerto Rico, which shall be titled “Notice of Unclaimed Money and Other Liquid Assets held by (name of the cooperative)”. The expenses incurred by the cooperative for the publication of the notification shall be deducted proportionally from the balance of each unclaimed account.
This notification shall state, in alphabetical order, the name of the persons who according to the records of the cooperative, have the right to claim whatever sums of money and other liquid assets are held by the cooperative, which have not been claimed or that have not been subject to any type of transaction whatsoever in the referred five (5)-year period, the last known address of each of these persons, and the corresponding sums to which they are entitled.
During said ninety (90)-day period, the list shall be available for review by all members and the general public. Every person who, during the ninety (90)-day period mentioned above presents attesting evidence of title to one or more accounts identified in the list shall have the right to have them withdrawn from the list and not be subject to transfer to the capital reserves.
During the thirty (30)-day period after the first ninety (90)-day period as herein provided has concluded, the cooperative shall submit to the Corporation a copy of the notice published in the cooperative and a copy of the notice published in the newspaper of general circulation. This filling shall constitute the notification required to the Corporation for the purposes of this chapter.
After the Corporation has been notified, the cooperative shall be able to transfer the unclaimed goods to its equity capital reserve and/or to the indivisible capital item.
After the transfer from an account or other liquid assets to the capital reserve is made, only claims filed no later than five (5) years after the transfer shall be admitted. In such cases, the cooperative may impose administrative charges corresponding to the investigation and analysis of the claim.
Every cooperative shall include an informational notice to the members that contains a transcription of this section as part of the documents for the opening of an account. It will also keep the evidence of receipt of this informational notice on the record of each member.
Pursuant to these provisions, the cooperatives, their shares and deposit accounts, and their reserves shall be exempted from the provisions of §§ 2101 et seq. of this title, known as the “Abandoned and Unclaimed Money and Other Liquid Assets Act”.
The Corporation shall promulgate the regulations it deems pertinent and in accordance with what is herein established in order to ensure the adequate compliance of this section.
History —Oct. 28, 2002, No. 255, § 6.09; June 2, 2008, No. 81, § 1.