As used in this chapter:
1. "Administrator" means the administrator of the state abandoned property office.
2. "Administrator's agent" means a person with which the commissioner contracts to
conduct an examination under sections 47-30.2-54, 47-30.2-55, 47-30.2-56,
47-30.2-57, 47-30.2-58, 47-30.2-59, 47-30.2-60, 47-30.2-61, and 47-30.2-62 on behalf
of the administrator. The term includes an independent contractor of the person and
each individual participating in the examination on behalf of the person or contractor.
3. "Apparent owner" means a person whose name appears on the records of a holder as
the owner of property held, issued, or owing by the holder.
4. "Board" means the board of university and school lands.
5. "Business association" means a corporation, joint stock company, investment
company, partnership, unincorporated association, joint venture, limited liability
company, business trust, trust company, land bank, safe deposit company,
safekeeping depository, financial organization, insurance company, federally chartered
entity, utility, sole proprietorship, or other business entity, whether or not for profit.
6. "Cashier's check" means a check that:
a. Is purchased by a remitter and made payable to a designated payee;
b. Is signed by an officer or employee of the financial organization;
c. Authorizes payment of the amount shown on the check's face to the payee;
d. Is a direct obligation of the financial organization; and
e. Is provided to a customer of the financial institution or acquired from the financial
institution for remittance purposes.
7. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of university and school lands.
8. "Confidential record" has the same meaning as defined in section 44-04-17.1.
9. "Department" means the department of trust lands.
10. "Domicile" means:
a. For a corporation, the state of its incorporation;
b. For a business association whose formation requires a filing with a state, other
than a corporation, the state of its filing;
c. For a federally chartered entity, the state of its home office; and
d. For any other holder, the state of its principal place of business.
11. "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless,
optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
12. "Electronic mail" means a communication by electronic means, together with
attachments, which is automatically retained and stored and may be readily accessed
or retrieved.
13. "Financial organization" means a savings and loan association, building and loan
association, savings bank, industrial bank, bank, banking organization, private banker,
trust company, credit union, or an organization defined as a bank or banking
organization under the laws of this state or of the United States.
14. "Game-related digital content" means digital content that exists only in an electronic
game or electronic-game platform.
a. The term includes:
(1) Game-play currency such as a virtual wallet, even if denominated in United
States currency; and
(2) The following if for use or redemption only within the game or platform or
another electronic game or electronic-game platform:
(a) Points sometimes referred to as gems, tokens, gold, and similar
names; and
(b) Digital codes; and
b. The term does not include an item that the issuer:
(1) Permits to be redeemed for use outside a game or platform for:
(a) Money; or
(b) Goods or services that have more than minimal value; or
(2) Otherwise monetizes for use outside a game or platform.
15. "Gift card" means a record that:
a. Is usable at:
(1) A single merchant; or
(2) A specified group of merchants;
b. Is prefunded before the record is used; and
c. Can be used for purchases of goods or services.
16. "Holder" means a person obligated to hold for the account of, or to deliver or pay to,
the owner, property subject to this chapter.
17. "Insurance company" has the same meaning as defined in section 26.1-02-01, and
also includes a benevolent society, nonprofit health service corporation, and a health
maintenance organization.
18. "Loyalty card" means a record given without monetary consideration under an award,
reward, benefit, loyalty, incentive, rebate, or promotional program which may be used
or redeemed only to obtain goods or services or a discount on goods or services. The
term does not include a record that may be redeemed for money or otherwise
monetized by the issuer.
19. "Mineral proceeds" means an obligation:
a. To pay resulting from the production and sale of minerals, including net revenue
interest, royalties, overriding royalties, production payments, and joint operating
agreements; or
b. For the acquisition and retention of a mineral lease, including bonuses, delay
rentals, shut-in royalties, and minimum royalties.
20. "Money order" means a payment order for a specified amount of money. The term
includes an express money order and a personal money order on which the remitter is
the purchaser.
21. "Municipal bond" means a bond or evidence of indebtedness issued by a municipality
or other political subdivision of a state.
22. "Net card value" means the original purchase price or original issued value of a stored-
value card, plus amounts added to the original price or value, minus amounts used
and any service charge, fee, or dormancy charge permitted by law.
23. "Non-freely transferable security" means a security that cannot be delivered to the
administrator by the depository trust clearing corporation or similar custodian of
securities providing post-trade clearing and settlement services to financial markets or
cannot be delivered because there is no agent to effect transfer. The term includes a
worthless security.
24. "Owner" means a person that has a legal, beneficial, or equitable interest in property
subject to this chapter or the person's legal representative when acting on behalf of
and in the best interest of the owner. The term includes:
a. A depositor, for a deposit;
b. A beneficiary, for a trust other than a deposit in trust;
c. A creditor, claimant, or payee, for other property; and
d. The lawful bearer of a record that may be used to obtain money, a reward, or a
thing of value.
25. "Payroll card" means a record that evidences a payroll-card account that is directly or
indirectly established through an employer and to which electronic fund transfers of the
consumer's wages, salary, or other employee compensation, such as commissions,
are made on a recurring basis, whether the account is operated or managed by the
employer, a third-party payroll processor, a depository institution, or any other person.
26. "Person" means an individual, estate, business association, public corporation,
government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or other legal
entity.
27. "Property" means tangible property described in section 47-30.2-08 or a fixed and
certain interest in intangible property held, issued, or owed in the course of a holder's
business or by a government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality.
a. The term includes:
(1) All income from or increments to the property; and
(2) Property referred to as or evidenced by:
(a) Money, virtual currency, interest, or a dividend, check, draft, deposit,
or payroll card;
(b) A credit balance, customer's overpayment, stored-value card, security
deposit, refund, credit memorandum, unpaid wage, unused ticket for
which the issuer has an obligation to provide a refund, mineral
proceeds, or unidentified remittance;
(c) A security except for:
[1] A worthless security; or
[2] A security that is subject to a lien, legal hold, or restriction
evidenced on the records of the holder or imposed by operation
of law, if the lien, legal hold, or restriction restricts the holder's or
owner's ability to receive, transfer, sell, or otherwise negotiate the
security;
(d) A bond, debenture, note, or other evidence of indebtedness;
(e) Money deposited to redeem a security, make a distribution, or pay a
dividend;
(f) An amount due and payable under an annuity contract or insurance
policy;
(g) An amount distributable from a trust or custodial fund established
under a plan to provide health, welfare, pension, vacation, severance,
retirement, death, stock purchase, profit-sharing, employee-savings,
supplemental-unemployment insurance, or a similar benefit;
(h) Intangible property and any income or increment derived from the
intangible property held in a fiduciary capacity for the benefit of
another person;
(i) Mineral proceeds; and
(j) An in-store credit for returned merchandise.
b. The term does not include:
(1) Property held in a plan described in section 529A of the Internal Revenue
Code, as amended, [26 U.S.C. 529A];
(2) Game-related digital content;
(3) A loyalty card; or
(4) A gift card.
28. "Putative holder" means a person believed by the administrator to be a holder, until the
person pays or delivers to the administrator property subject to this chapter or the
administrator or a court makes a final determination that the person is or is not a
holder.
29. "Record" has the same meaning as defined in section 44-04-17.1.
30. "Security" means:
a. A security as defined in section 41-08-02;
b. A security entitlement as defined in section 41-08-02, including a customer
security account held by a registered broker-dealer, to the extent the financial
assets held in the security account are not:
(1) Registered on the books of the issuer in the name of the person for which
the broker-dealer holds the assets;
(2) Payable to the order of the person; or
(3) Specifically indorsed to the person; or
c. An equity interest in a business association not included in subdivision a or b.
31. "Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:
a. To execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or
b. To attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or
process.
32. "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or
insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
33. "Stored-value card" means a card, code, or other device, including a merchandise
credit or rebate card, which is:
a. Issued on a prepaid basis primarily for personal, family, or household purposes to
a consumer in a specified amount, whether or not that amount may be increased
or reloaded in exchange for payment;
b. Redeemable upon presentation at multiple unaffiliated merchants for goods or
services or usable at automated teller machines; and
c. Not a gift card, payroll card, loyalty card, or game-related digital content.
34. "Utility" means a person that owns or operates for public use a plant, equipment, real
property, franchise, or license for the following public services:
a. Transmission of communications or information;
b. Production, storage, transmission, sale, delivery, or furnishing of electricity, water,
steam, or gas; or
c. Provision of sewage or septic services, or trash, garbage, or recycling disposal.
35. "Virtual currency" means a digital representation of value used as a medium of
exchange, unit of account, or store of value, which does not have legal tender status
recognized by the United States. The term does not include:
a. The software or protocols governing the transfer of the digital representation of
value;
b. Game-related digital content; or
c. A loyalty card or gift card.
36. "Worthless security" means a security whose cost of liquidation and delivery to the
administrator would exceed the value of the security on the date a report is due under
this chapter.