Syfert Injury Law Firm

Your Trusted Partner in Personal Injury & Workers' Compensation

Call Now: 904-383-7448

2018 Georgia Code 44-12-205 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 44-12-205 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 44-12-205

TITLE 44 PROPERTY

Section 12. Rights in Personalty, 44-12-1 through 44-12-322.

ARTICLE 5 DISPOSITION OF UNCLAIMED PROPERTY

44-12-205. When gift certificate or credit memo presumed abandoned.

  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).

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 44-12-205

Total Results: 1  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

Copy

Benson v. Simon Prop. Grp., Inc., 281 Ga. 744 (Ga. 2007).

Cited 5 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Mar 19, 2007 | 642 S.E.2d 687, 2007 Fulton County D. Rep. 798, 29 A.L.R. 6th 827

....” 1 Ga. Jur., Property § 11:20 (Lawyers Coop. 1995). *746Specifically, a gift certificate is presumed abandoned, and is thus subject to the custody of the State, if it remains unclaimed by the owner for more than five years. OCGA §§ 44-12-194, 44-12-205 (a). The purpose of the DUPA is not to expand the substantive rights of owners....
...state the use of some considerable sums of money that otherwise would, in effect, become a windfall to the holders thereof.’ [Cit.]” Simon Property Group v. Benson, supra. See also Screen Actors Guild v. Cory, supra; Mayo, supra. Owners’ complaint alleges that the expiration dates and dormancy fees violate OCGA §§ 44-12-205 and 44-12-226....
...In fact, this uniform provision has never been so construed in any jurisdiction. Such a construction would constitute a drastic change in the law of contracts and limitations in this state, which clearly was not intended by the enactment of the DUPA. As for OCGA § 44-12-205, Owners rely on subsection (b), which provides that, “[i]n the case of a gift certificate, the amount presumed abandoned is the price paid by the purchaser for the gift certificate.” *748In light of the purpose of this statute to uti...
...Barnes, Nations, Toman & McKnight, Gary J. Toman, for appellants. Alston & Bird, Rebecca M. Lamberth, JohnL. Coalson, Jr., Collin K. Kelly, Jay D. Bennett, Ethan D. Miller, Brock & Clay, Charles C. Clay, for appellees. The very subsections of the DUPA on which Owners rely, OCGA §§ 44-12-205 and 44-12-226, illustrate that the act does not affect the substantive rights of any party until the conditions leading to a presumption of abandonment are satisfied....
...roperty. OCGA §§ 44-12-214, 44-12-215. The owner is permitted to make a claim for the property at any time either before or after it is presumed abandoned, regardless of whether custody of the property has passed to the state. OCGA §§ 44-12-193, 44-12-205, 44-12-220....