Statutory Interpretation – Unclaimed Property Act

Listen to this article

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: S. David Goldberg v. Michael W. Frerichs, Treasurer of Illinois

Case No.: 18-2432

Officials: EASTERBROOK, KANNE, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Statutory Interpretation – Unclaimed Property Act

An earlier opinion in this case concluded that people whose property is taken into custody by Illinois under the state’s Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, 765 ILCS 1026/15-607, are entitled to receive the time value of their property (that is, interest or other earnings), less reasonable custodial fees. Kolton v. Frerichs, 869 F.3d 532 (7th Cir. 2017); see also Cerajeski v. Zoeller, 735 F.3d 577 (7th Cir. 2013). On remand the district court declined to certify the proposed class, ruling that, despite what our opinion said, owners of property in the state’s custody are entitled to be compensated for the time value of money only if the property was earning interest at the moment the state took it into custody. 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51062 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 28, 2018). This meant that the class had internal divisions that made certification inappropriate. The court then granted summary judgment to the state on the claim of S. David Goldberg, one of the putative class representatives, whose property had not been earning interest before the state took custody of it. The judge entered a partial final judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b), leading to this appeal.

It may be hard to administer the line established by Brown. That will be among the district court’s tasks if the state contends on remand that particular parcels in its custody could not earn net interest in private hands. All we decide today is that it does not mamer under Brown, or any other decision by the Supreme Court or this court, whether property that is able to earn net interest was in an interest-bearing account before its transfer to the state. (This conclusion also may lead the district court to reconsider its ruling on class certification.) The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded for proceedings consistent with Kolton and this opinion.

Vacated and Remanded

Full Text

Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.