Do you think you have the right to toss a gift card in a drawer for a couple of years and use it later? What, do you think the money is yours or something? Seriously, this is the equivalent of the completely busted-out state rummaging under the sofa cushions for random change. And it presses the precedent that your assets belong to the state whenever the state says it does.
The New Jersey Treasury Department has signaled it won’t abandon its effort to seize unused money on gift cards and traveler’s checks.
State Treasurer Andrew P. Sidamon-Eristoff has told a U.S. District Court judge in Newark that the state will appeal a Nov. 13 ruling that temporarily struck down a new law concerning seizures that was enacted in July as part of Governor Christie’s budget.
The legislation amended part of the state Uniform Unclaimed Property Act to include gift cards for the first time, allowing the state to consider a card abandoned two years after purchase and seize the balance.
Read more at NewJersey.com.
