§ 116B-6. Administration of Escheat Fund; Escheat Account.
§ 116B‑6. Administration of Escheat Fund; Escheat Account.
(a) Escheat Account. All funds received by the Treasurer asescheated or abandoned property and which were transferred prior to January 1,1980, to the trust fund created under G.S. 116‑209 shall remain in thattrust fund and shall be placed in a special fund, designated the "EscheatAccount."
(b) Investment and Transfer of Assets; Income. The Treasureris the trustee of the Escheat Account and has full power to invest and reinvestthe assets of the Escheat Account and the Escheat Fund. Subject to theTreasurer's withholding an amount necessary to accomplish the Treasurer'sduties as set out in this Chapter, including subsections (e), (f) and (g) ofthis section, the Treasurer shall transfer, at least annually, to the EscheatAccount all moneys then in the Treasurer's custody received as, or derived fromthe disposition of, escheated and abandoned property and shall disburse to theState Education Assistance Authority, as provided in G.S. 116B‑7, theincome derived from the investment of the Escheat Account and the Escheat Fund.All moneys transferred to the Escheat Account under this section shall beaccounted for and administered separately from other assets and money in thetrust fund created under G.S. 116‑209.
(c) Security Interest in Escheat Account. The State EducationAssistance Authority, in addition to other powers vested under G.S. 116‑201to G.S. 116‑209.23, inclusive, is authorized to pledge and vest asecurity interest in all or any part of the Escheat Account, by resolutionadopted or trust agreement approved by it, as security for or insurancerespecting the payment of bonds or other obligations, as defined in G.S. 116‑201,including principal, interest and redemption premium, if any; provided, thatsuch pledge and security interest in the Escheat Account shall, in thedetermination of the Authority, constitute a use of the Escheat Fund to aidworthy and needy students who are residents of this State and are enrolled inpublic institutions of higher education in this State. The Authority may submitto the Treasurer, from time to time as it deems necessary, requisitions fortransfers of money in the Escheat Account to pay such bonds and otherobligations to the extent necessary under such pledge of, or security interestin, the Escheat Account, or any part thereof, and the Treasurer is authorizedand directed to pay such money so requisitioned to the Authority for suchpurposes.
(d) Limitation on Amount of Obligations Secured. The principalamount of bonds and other obligations insured or secured by the Escheat Accountshall not exceed 10 times the amount held for the credit of the EscheatAccount, as certified from time to time by the Treasurer, and, in no event,shall exceed three hundred fifty million dollars ($350,000,000). If the amountheld for the credit of the Escheat Account, as certified by the Treasurer,shall be ten percent (10%) or less of the principal amount of the bonds andother obligations so insured or secured, the Authority shall not issue anyadditional bonds or cause additional obligations to be insured or secured bythe Escheat Account until such time as the amount held for the credit of theEscheat Account exceeds ten percent (10%) of the principal amount of the bondsand other obligations secured or insured by the Escheat Account.
(e) Use of Excess Funds. If the amount held for the credit ofthe Escheat Account at any time shall exceed the sum of thirty‑fivemillion dollars ($35,000,000), such excess may be used by the State EducationAssistance Authority, with the written approval of the Treasurer, for thepurpose of either (i) making student loans or (ii) refunding outstanding bondsor other obligations issued by the Authority and secured by a pledge of, or a securityinterest in, the Escheat Account. Any excess so used shall be repaid by theAuthority to the Escheat Account in the manner agreed between the Authority andthe Treasurer.
(f) Refund Reserve. The Treasurer shall retain in the EscheatFund, as a permanent refund reserve, either the sum of five million dollars($5,000,000) or a sum equal to the total value of escheated or abandonedproperty received in the preceding fiscal year, whichever is greater, for thepurpose of payment of refunds of escheated or abandoned property to personsentitled thereto.
(g) Additional Funds for Refunds. If at any time the amount ofthe refund reserve shall be insufficient to make refunds required to be made,the Treasurer, in addition, may use all current receipts derived from escheatedor abandoned property, exclusive of earnings and profits on investments of theEscheat Fund and the Escheat Account, for the purpose of making such refunds;and if all such funds shall be inadequate for such refunds, the Treasurer may applyto the Council of State, pursuant to the Executive Budget Act, to the limit offunds available from the Contingency and Emergency Fund, for a loan, withoutinterest, to supply any deficiencies, in whole or in part. No receipts derivedfrom escheated or abandoned property, other than earnings or profits oninvestments, shall be paid to the Authority until: (i) all valid claims forrefund have been paid; (ii) the reserve for refund shall equal five milliondollars ($5,000,000); and (iii) the amount loaned from the Contingency andEmergency Fund shall have been repaid by the Escheat Fund.
(h) Expenditures. The Treasurer may expend the funds in theEscheat Fund, other than funds in the Escheat Account, for the payment ofclaims for refunds to owners, holders and claimants under G.S. 116B‑4;for the payment of costs of maintenance and upkeep of abandoned or escheatedproperty; costs of preparing lists of names of owners of abandoned property tobe furnished to clerks of superior court; costs of notice and publication;costs of appraisals; fees of persons employed pursuant to G.S. 116B‑8costs involved in determining whether a decedent died without heirs; costs of atitle search of real property that has escheated; and costs of auction or saleunder this Chapter. All other costs, including salaries of personnel, necessaryto carry out the duties of the Treasurer under this Chapter, shall beappropriated from the funds of the Escheat Fund pursuant to the provisions ofArticle 1, Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
(i) Records. Before making a deposit to the Escheat Fund, orretaining or destroying property, the Treasurer shall record the name andaddress of the holder, the name and last known address of each person appearingfrom the holder's reports to be entitled to the abandoned property, the nameand last known address of each insured person or annuitant, the amount ordescription of the property, and, with respect to each policy or contractlisted in the report of an insurer, its number and the name of the corporation.The records shall be available for public inspection at all reasonable businesshours. (1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1311,s. 1; 1999‑460, ss. 3(b), 4(a), (b).)