When Gift Certificate or Credit Memo Presumed Abandoned

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Property
  4. Rights in Personalty
  5. Disposition of Unclaimed Property
  6. When Gift Certificate or Credit Memo Presumed Abandoned

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  1. A gift certificate or a credit memo issued in the ordinary course of an issuer's business which remains unclaimed by the owner for more than five years after becoming payable or distributable is presumed abandoned.
  2. In the case of a gift certificate, the amount presumed abandoned is the price paid by the purchaser for the gift certificate.In the case of a credit memo, the amount presumed abandoned is the amount credited to the recipient of the memo.

(Code 1981, §44-12-205, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1506, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1237, § 11.)

Law reviews.

- For comment, "Unwrapping Escheat: Unclaimed Property Laws and Gift Cards," see 60 Emory L. J. 971 (2011).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

No presumption of abandonment.

- 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).

Law governing claims by owners against property holders.

- O.C.G.A. § 44-12-205(b), which simply provided that an amount equal to the price paid for an unclaimed card or certificate was to be paid to the state after five years, regardless of whether the card or certificate previously expired or otherwise lost value pursuant to contractual terms, did not provide a basis for the owners of certain gift cards and certificates to bring an action against the holder of the cards and certificates that claimed that the dormancy fees and expiration dates on the cards and certificates violated the Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act; the relationship between the owners and the holder was governed by Georgia contract law. Benson v. Simon Prop. Group, Inc., 281 Ga. 744, 642 S.E.2d 687 (2007).


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