Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced today that Montana will receive $901,528 as part of a multi-state settlement, concluding the outstanding damages phase of a dispute over unclaimed property with Delaware.
The conflict arose when states discovered that Delaware had been misapplying federal law by advising MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc. to allocate unclaimed official checks to Delaware, rather than returning them to the states where they were originally purchased. In a landmark decision earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Montana and 29 other coalition states, affirming that unclaimed checks issued by MoneyGram are governed by the Federal Disposition Act. This law mandates that unclaimed property should be returned to the state of purchase.
Montana’s share is part of a larger $190 million multi-state settlement, which will be deposited directly into the state’s general fund.
As part of the settlement terms, Delaware will transfer over $102 million in property reported by MoneyGram between 2011 and 2017 to the coalition states, based on the location of each monetary instrument’s purchase. Additionally, approximately $89 million deposited by MoneyGram into a litigation escrow account from 2018 to 2022, along with accrued interest, will be distributed among all 50 states according to the same criteria. The coalition states are set to receive nearly $55 million from the escrow account.
States will be responsible for returning the property received under the settlement agreement to the rightful owners and handling any claims related to it.
This settlement effectively concludes the litigation process that has been ongoing before the U.S. Supreme Court.
By: DNU staff