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 AB 1890 Page 2 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 AB 1890 Page 3 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.