Reporting Guidelines

Who is Required to Report Unclaimed Property?

All types of companies including banks, financial institutions and business entities.

This includes: public institutions, courts, municipalities, governmental subdivisions/agencies, public corporations or authorities, non-profit entities, hospitals, utilities, estates, trusts or any other legal or commercial entity.

Please note: Most businesses have unclaimed property

What if you have nothing to report?

You must review your records each year for outstanding unclaimed property. All unclaimed property must be reported regardless of amount or value. If you have no unclaimed property to report, you are still required to file a report which is called a negative report.

When are reports due to the state?

All companies must report and remit by November 1st. With the exception of insurance companies, they report and remit by May 1st.

What happens if you don’t file?

A person who fails to deliver property within the time prescribed by the Law, or who willfully fails to submit a report (zero, or negative reports are required) or perform other duties is subject to interest/penalties as set out in CRS 38-13-1204 and CRS 38-13-1205.

Do I have to report property that does not have a name on it?

Yes, if you don’t have the name of the owner, then list the name as ‘unknown’ and provide as much information as possible from your files. List any addresses, social security numbers, account numbers, co-owners, or remitters if known. This is important as the more information provided, the more likely our state can return the property to the rightful owner.

What is the dormancy period?

Generally, the dormancy period is years from the date of last customer-initiated contact. The dormancy period for payroll, wages, and salary checks is 1 year. View Dormancy Period PDF

Are holders required to report non-transferable or worthless securities to the state?

A holder is not to report to the Colorado State Treasury under any circumstances a security identified as non-transferable security. This includes securities that may be under global lock, restricted, worthless or non-transferable for any reason.

Colorado does not accept worthless securities where the current market price is less than 1 cent per share. Please review these securities annually, and if they become transferable or gain value, please report and remit the shares to the Colorado Treasury at that time otherwise, worthless securities are not to be reported under any circumstances.

Failure to remove all non-transferable and worthless securities from your report before submission to the Colorado Treasury Unclaimed Property Division may result in the report getting rejected and purged from the Colorado Treasury's unclaimed property system and the holder will be required to submit a replacement report with the corrections made.

Does the state of Colorado offer Voluntary Disclosure Agreements?

Colorado does not offer Voluntary Disclosure Agreements. Holders are expected to report and remit unclaimed property, belonging to Colorado residents, in accordance with the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property law.

SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES
Do safe deposit boxes become unclaimed property?

Safe deposit boxes become unclaimed property five (5) years after the rent has expired. The Colorado Treasury recommends that the safe deposit boxes are drilled and inventoried as soon as practicable. Safe deposit box items should be listed on your Unclaimed Property Annual Report (due Nov 1st) without assigning a value. Please do not send the contents to the Colorado Treasury until instructed to do so. Upon request, boxes should be securely packaged, tracked and insured. An email with the tracking number should be sent to the Unclaimed Property division at: Holders@state.co.us for delivery confirmation.

Send contents to:
Colorado Department of Treasury
Unclaimed Property Division
Room 140, State Capitol
200 East Colfax Ave
Denver, CO 80203-1722

REIMBURSEMENTS
How are reimbursements handled?

If you have already reported and remitted unclaimed property and an owner demands immediate payment of an unclaimed amount, or your company chooses to pay the customer, you may pay the owner and request a reimbursement from the Unclaimed Property Division by doing the following:

  1. Pay the owner. It is advisable to always check with the Unclaimed Property Division before you pay an owner to be sure the division has not already paid them via a claim.
  2. Complete the Holder Reimbursement Form
  3. Attach proof of payment for each owner you paid to the Reimbursement Form. If the owner was paid by check, please enclose/attach a copy of the cancelled check. If the owner’s account was reactivated, please provide proof of the account activation; reactivated accounts must show that the owner can access the account.
Resources

See NAUPA Standard Reporting Formats for more information.

Forms