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.