As used in the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (1995):
(1) "administrator" means the taxation and revenue department, the secretary of taxation and revenue or any employee of the department who exercises authority lawfully delegated to him by the secretary;
(2) "apparent owner" means a person whose name appears on the records of a holder as the person entitled to property held, issued, or owing by the holder;
(3) "business association" means a corporation, joint stock company, investment company, partnership, unincorporated association, joint venture, limited liability company, business trust, trust company, land bank, safe deposit company, safekeeping depository, financial organization, insurance company, mutual fund, utility, or other business entity consisting of one or more persons, whether or not for profit;
(4) "domicile" means the state of incorporation of a corporation and the state of the principal place of business of a holder other than a corporation;
(5) "financial organization" means a savings and loan association, building and loan association, savings bank, industrial bank, bank, banking organization or credit union;
(6) "holder" means a person obligated to hold for the account of, or deliver or pay to, the owner property that is subject to the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (1995);
(7) "insurance company" means an association, corporation or fraternal or mutual benefit organization, whether or not for profit, engaged in the business of providing life endowments, annuities or insurance, including accident, burial, casualty, credit life, contract performance, dental, disability, fidelity, fire, health, hospitalization, illness, life, malpractice, marine, mortgage, surety, wage protection and workers' compensation insurance;
(8) "mineral" means gas; oil; coal; other gaseous, liquid and solid hydrocarbons; oil shale; cement material; sand and gravel; road material; building stone; chemical raw material; gemstone; fissionable and nonfissionable ores; colloidal and other clay; steam and other geothermal resource; or any other substance defined as a mineral by the law of New Mexico;
(9) "mineral proceeds" means amounts payable for the extraction, production or sale of minerals, or, upon the abandonment of those payments, all payments that become payable thereafter. The term includes amounts payable:
(i) for the acquisition and retention of a mineral lease, including bonuses, royalties, compensatory royalties, shut-in royalties, minimum royalties and delay rentals;
(ii) for the extraction, production or sale of minerals, including net revenue interests, royalties, overriding royalties, extraction payments and production payments; and
(iii) under an agreement or option, including a joint operating agreement, unit agreement, pooling agreement and farm-out agreement;
(10) "money order" includes an express money order and a personal money order, on which the remitter is the purchaser. The term does not include a bank money order or any other instrument sold by a financial organization if the seller has obtained the name and address of the payee;
(11) "owner" means a person who has a legal or equitable interest in property subject to the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (1995) or the person's legal representative. The term includes a depositor in the case of a deposit, a beneficiary in the case of a trust other than a deposit in trust and a creditor, claimant or payee in the case of other property;
(12) "person" means an individual; business association; financial organization; estate; trust; government; governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; or any other legal or commercial entity;
(13) "property" means tangible property described in Section 7-8A-3 NMSA 1978 or a fixed and certain interest in intangible property that is held, issued, or owed in the course of a holder's business, or by a government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, and all income or increments therefrom, but excludes child, spousal or medical support received by the child support enforcement division of the human services department, the New Mexico IV-D agency. The term includes property that is referred to as or evidenced by:
(i) money, a check, draft, deposit, interest or dividend;
(ii) credit balance, customer's overpayment, gift certificate, security deposit, refund, credit memorandum, unpaid wage, unused ticket, mineral proceeds or unidentified remittance;
(iii) stock or other evidence of ownership of an interest in a business association or financial organization;
(iv) a bond, debenture, note or other evidence of indebtedness;
(v) money deposited to redeem stocks, bonds, coupons or other securities or to make distributions;
(vi) an amount due and payable under the terms of an annuity or insurance policy, including policies providing life insurance, property and casualty insurance, workers' compensation insurance or health and disability insurance; and
(vii) an amount distributable from a trust or custodial fund established under a plan to provide health, welfare, pension, vacation, severance, retirement, death, stock purchase, profit sharing, employee savings, supplemental unemployment insurance or similar benefits;
(14) "record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form;
(15) "state" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States; and
(16) "utility" means a person who owns or operates for public use any plant, equipment, real property, franchise, or license for the transmission of communications or the production, storage, transmission, sale, delivery or furnishing of electricity, water, steam or gas.
History: Laws 1997, ch. 25, § 1; 2003, ch. 283, § 1.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, in Paragraph A(13), substituted "Section 7-8A-3 NMSA 1978" for "Section 3 of the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (1995)" following "property described in", inserted "but excludes child, spousal or medical support received by the child support enforcement division of the human services department, the New Mexico IV-D agency" following "or increments therefrom".
Former act did not infringe banking laws or burden banks. — There is no unlawful infringement on the national banking laws nor undue burden placed on the performance of the bank's duties by the provisions of the former article. Clovis Nat'l Bank v. Callaway, 1961-NMSC-129, 69 N.M. 119, 364 P.2d 748.
New Mexico's act is fashioned on 1995 Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (1995 UPA), promulgated by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Wilson v. Mass. Mut. Life Ins. Co., 2004-NMCA-051, 135 N.M. 506, 90 P.3d 525, cert. denied, 2004-NMCERT-004, 135 N.M. 563, 91 P.3d 604, overruled on other grounds by Schultz v. Pojoaque Tribal Police Dep't, 2010-NMSC-034, 148 N.M. 692, 242 P.3d 259.
Phrases "ordinary course of business" and "course of business" are interchangeable. Wilson v. Mass. Mut. Life Ins. Co., 2004-NMCA-051, 135 N.M. 506, 90 P.3d 525, cert. denied, 2004-NMCERT-004, 135 N.M. 563, 91 P.3d 604, overruled on other grounds by Schultz v. Pojoaque Tribal Police Dep't, 2010-NMSC-034, 148 N.M. 692, 242 P.3d 259.
Course of business means business practice that is routine, regular, usual, or normally done. Wilson v. Mass. Mut. Life Ins. Co., 2004-NMCA-051, 135 N.M. 506, 90 P.3d 525, cert. denied, 2004-NMCERT-004, 135 N.M. 563, 91 P.3d 604, overruled on other grounds, Schultz v. Pojoaque Tribal Police Dep't, 2010-NMSC-034, 148 N.M. 692, 242 P.3d 259.
State can compel surrender to it of deposit balances which have been abandoned or forgotten. In doing so, constitutional requirements must be met and there must be no violation of national banking laws. Clovis Nat'l Bank v. Callaway, 1961-NMSC-129, 69 N.M. 119, 364 P.2d 748.
There must be reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard before ownership can be transferred to the state and the requirements of due process satisfied. Clovis Nat'l Bank v. Callaway, 1961-NMSC-129, 69 N.M. 119, 364 P.2d 748.
Certificates awarded to insurance policyholders in class action settlement. — Certificates being issued as part of class action settlement are not part of the insurance company's regular line of products; nor is the issuance of certificates a routine, usual, or normal practice. Instead, they are being issued as a result of a one-time settlement. Because they were not held, issued, or owed in the course of business, the certificates do not meet the definition of property under the Act. Wilson v. Mass. Mut. Life Ins. Co., 2004-NMCA-051, 135 N.M. 506, 90 P.3d 525, cert. denied, 2004-NMCERT-004, 135 N.M. 563, 91 P.3d 604, overruled on other grounds by Schultz v. Pojoaque Tribal Police Dep't, 2010-NMSC-034, 148 N.M. 692, 242 P.3d 259.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 1 Am. Jur. 2d Abandoned, Lost, and Unclaimed Property § 1 et seq.; 27 Am. Jur. 2d Escheat §§ 1 to 48.
Validity, construction, and application of lost or abandoned goods statutes, 23 A.L.R.4th 1025.
Modern status of rules as to ownership of treasure trove as between finder and owner of property on which found, 61 A.L.R.4th 1180.
1 C.J.S. Abandonment §§ 1 to 12; 30A C.J.S. Escheat § 1 et seq.