§ 9 — Property surrendered to treasurer; liquidation; funds

Section 9. (a) Property which has been surrendered to the state treasurer under provisions of this chapter shall vest in the commonwealth, subject, nevertheless, to provisions of section ten.(b) The treasurer shall proceed with the liquidation of property not earlier than one year after its delivery to him under the provisions of this chapter except that property presumed abandoned pursuant to subsection (b) of section five B shall not be liquidated earlier than three years after it was delivered unless the treasurer shall in his opinion find it is in the best interests of the state to do so. If the treasurer sells any securities delivered pursuant to section five B before the expiration of the three year period, any person making a claim pursuant to this chapter before the end of the three year period is entitled to either the proceeds of the sale of the securities or the market value of the securities at the time the claim is made, whichever amount is greater. A person making a claim under this chapter after the expiration of this period is entitled to receive either the securities delivered to the treasurer by the holder, if they still remain in the hands of the treasurer, or the proceeds received from sale, but no person has any claim under this chapter against the commonwealth, the holder, any transfer agent, registrar, or other person acting for or on behalf of a holder for any appreciation in the value of the property occurring after delivery by the holder to the treasurer.(c) If the liquidation requires that the property be sold the state treasurer shall sell it to the highest bidder at public sale in whatever city in the commonwealth affords, in the state treasurer's judgment, the most favorable market for the particular property involved. The state treasurer may decline the highest bid and reoffer the property for sale if he considers the price offered insufficient. The sale shall be advertised in a newspaper in the county wherein the property was located at the time that it was presumed abandoned, but where the sale will be made in a different county it shall likewise be advertised in such county immediately preceding the sale. The state treasurer may refuse to offer such property at public sale if, in his opinion, it is valueless or of such little value that the cost of sale would exceed the public proceeds therefrom.(d) All monies received by the treasurer from the holder thereof, or from the liquidation of the property under paragraphs (a) to (c), inclusive, shall be placed in a special fund as provided in paragraph (e) after deducting therefrom the costs incurred in connection with any liquidation of unclaimed property, any costs of mailing and publication in connection with any unclaimed property, and cost incurred in examining records of holders of unclaimed property and collecting such property from such holders and reasonable service charges.(e) Monies received by the treasurer under the proceedings of this chapter shall be placed in a special fund to be known as the Unclaimed Property Fund. Whenever such fund exceeds five hundred thousand dollars, the excess shall be credited to the General Fund. Payments made by the treasurer under the provisions of paragraph (e) of section ten shall be made from said Unclaimed Property Fund.(f) All sales of property made by the state treasurer under provisions of this chapter shall pass absolute title to the purchaser thereof.