NY A10239

Requires sellers of abandoned property location services to provide a conspicuous notice in at least 12-point boldface type in all solicitations and agreements, informing consumers that abandoned funds held by the state can be obtained directly from the Office of the State Comptroller without paying a fee.

Expands the definition of "abandoned property location services" to include services for locating and/or retrieving property held by the state comptroller, applying these regulations to any person, corporation, association, partnership or other entity selling such services in New York.

Exempts agreements with attorneys or accountants from these restrictions if the services can only be performed by such professionals, there is a pre-existing relationship, or the client initiated the engagement.

Requires all abandoned property location service agreements to be in writing, signed by the property owner, and witnessed and acknowledged by a notary public, with the same statutory notice displayed in at least 12-point boldface type.

Maintains the existing fee cap of no more than 15 percent of the value of recoverable property and preserves owners' rights to challenge agreements as based on excessive or unjust consideration.