BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    






                             SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                                  Gloria Romero, Chair
                               2009-2010 Regular Session
                                            

           BILL NO:       AB 1890
           AUTHOR:        Committee on Higher Education
           INTRODUCED:    February 16, 2010
           FISCAL COMM:   Yes            HEARING DATE:  June 16, 2010
           URGENCY:       No             CONSULTANT:Daniel Alvarez

            SUBJECT  :  University of California (UC) / California State  
           University (CSU):
                     Unclaimed, Lost, or Abandoned Property.

            KEY POLICY ISSUES   

           Should the State place a minimum value threshold at $300 for  
           unclaimed, lost, or abandoned property that can be placed for  
           sale at a public auction by CSU and UC?

           Should the State conform the period of time such property, among  
           UC and CSU, must be held - at three months - prior to sale at a  
           public auction?


            SUMMARY   

           This bill requires a period of three months that unclaimed, lost,  
           or abandoned property must be held, as well as establishing a  
           value threshold of at least $300, before that property can be  
           placed for sale at public auction - these requirements would be  
           applicable to the CSU and UC.

            BACKGROUND  

           Current law requires when an item is turned into a UC or CSU  
           campus, the campus is required to hold this item for a defined  
           period (three months for UC, six months for CSU).  After this  
           period of time UC and CSU are required to sell the collected lost  
           and abandoned property at a public auction.  (Civil Code  2080.8  
           and 2080.9)

            ANALYSIS  

            This bill  requires a period of three months that unclaimed, lost,  
           or abandoned property must be held, as well as establishing a  



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           value threshold of at least $300, before that property can be  
           placed for sale at public auction - these requirements would be  
           applicable to the CSU.

           In addition, the bill establishes a value threshold of at least  
           $300, that unclaimed property, at the UC, can be placed for sale  
           at public auction after being held for at least three months.



            STAFF COMMENTS  

            1)   Need for the bill  .  The CSU Chancellor's Office is the  
                sponsor of this bill and argues that the changes to the  
                management of lost and abandoned property proposed by this  
                bill would allow campuses to streamline their process and  
                use staff more appropriately.  The CSU Chancellor's Office  
                reports that larger campuses maintain two full-time  
                employees to manage the lost property inventory, which often  
                includes items such as books, sunglasses, and articles of  
                clothing, in addition to more valuable, tangible items like  
                bicycles and computers.  

            2)   Holding items prior to public auction differ for UC and CSU  .  
                 Currently, CSU is required to hold property for six months;  
                while UC, public agencies like the Department of General  
                Services and the Department of Parks and Recreation are  
                required to keep property for only three months.  This bill  
                conforms statute governing CSU to that governing UC and  
                other public agencies by requiring CSU to hold property for  
                three months, rather than six, before placing those items up  
                for public auction.
            
           3)   Property value thresholds  :  Currently, UC and CSU must hold  
                onto all items, regardless of value, for the aforementioned  
                specified time periods.  This bill would establish that only  
                items valued above $300 must be held and then placed for  
                sale at public auction.  UC and CSU would be allowed to  
                treat items valued below $300 as the systems deem  
                appropriate.  There is precedent in other areas of  
                California law for establishing a value threshold for formal  
                processing of unclaimed/lost property.  For example,  
                California landlord-tenant law provides that property left  
                behind by tenants valued under $300 may be kept, sold, or  
                destroyed if not claimed.

            4)   Unclear on definition difference on unclaimed property  .  It  



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                is not clear why statute (Civil Code  2080.8 and 2080.9)  
                contains not only differing periods of time unclaimed  
                property must be held, by the UC and CSU, prior to public  
                auction as described in #2 above, but also the varying  
                definitions of what triggers the need for a public auction  
                after the required time period has lapsed - Civil code  
                2080.8 specifies "unclaimed" property held by the UC, while  
                section 2080.9 specifies "unclaimed, lost, or abandoned"  
                property held by the CSU.

                Staff recommends an amendment to harmonize the definitions  
                consistent with Civil Code section and applying the  
                definition of "unclaimed, lost, or abandoned" property  
                applies to both the UC and CSU.  This will also have the  
                effect of striking unnecessary and redundant sections from  
                the Civil Code.

            SUPPORT
            
           California State University (sponsor)
           University of California

            OPPOSITION
            
           None received.