1. a. All intangible personal property, not otherwise covered by this chapter, including any income or increment earned on the property and deducting any lawful charges, that is held or owing in this state in the ordinary course of the holder‘s business and has remained unclaimed by the owner for more than three years after it became payable or distributable is presumed abandoned.

 b. Unpaid wages, including wages represented by payroll checks or other compensation for personal services owing in the ordinary course of the holder’s business that remain unclaimed by the owner for more than one year after becoming payable are presumed abandoned.
 c. Except as provided in subsection 2, funds represented by a gift certificate balance that has not been presented within five years from the date of issuance of the gift certificate are presumed abandoned.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 556.9

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Holder: means any person in possession of property subject to this chapter belonging to another, or who is trustee in case of a trust, or is indebted to another on an obligation subject to this chapter. See Iowa Code 556.1
  • Owner: means a depositor in case of a deposit, a beneficiary in case of a trust, a creditor, claimant, or payee in case of other choses in action, or any person having a legal or equitable interest in property subject to this chapter, or that person's legal representative. See Iowa Code 556.1
  • Person: means any individual, business association, government or political subdivision, public corporation, public authority, estate, trust, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Iowa Code 556.1
  • Property: means a fixed and certain interest in or right in an intangible that is held, issued, or owed in the course of a holder's business, or by a government or governmental entity, and all income or increment therefrom, including that which is referred to as or evidenced by any of the following:
     (1) Money, check, draft, deposit, interest, dividend, and income. See Iowa Code 556.1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. a. An issuer of a gift certificate shall not deduct from the face value of the gift certificate any charge imposed due to the failure of the owner of the gift certificate to present the gift certificate in a timely manner, unless a valid and enforceable written contract exists between the issuer and the owner of the gift certificate pursuant to which the issuer regularly imposes such charges and does not regularly reverse or otherwise cancel them.

 b. Notwithstanding the time limitation in subsection 1, a gift certificate redeemable for merchandise only that is not subject to an expiration date and that is not subject to a deduction from the face value of the gift certificate for failure of the owner of the gift certificate to present the gift certificate in a timely manner, or subject to any other charge or service fee, which card remains unpresented, shall continue in force and be eligible for presentation for an indefinite period of time, and shall not be subject to a presumption of abandonment.
 c. For purposes of this section, “gift certificate” means a merchandise certificate or electronic gift card conspicuously designated as a gift certificate or electronic gift card, and generally purchased by a buyer for use by a person other than the buyer.
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