BATON ROUGE – Funds sitting in abandoned sports wagering accounts will now move to the state’s Unclaimed Property Fund more quickly thanks to legislation sought by Louisiana State Treasurer John M. Schroder. Rep. John Illg sponsored the bill, which resulted in Act 510, during the 2022 Legislative Session.
“We’re being proactive and thinking ahead about what’s best for Louisiana’s economy,” said Schroder in a press release. “Our Unclaimed Property Program already captures abandoned PayPal, Amazon, iTunes, and eBay account balances so it makes sense to add online gaming accounts, too.”
The new law dictates that money left in sports wagering accounts that have been forgotten after an account holder dies will be transferred into the Louisiana Unclaimed Property Fund after three years of account dormancy rather than five years. Then the Unclaimed Property Program will work to locate the rightful claimants.
“The money can’t help stimulate Louisiana’s economy while it’s sitting gathering dust in an account somewhere,” said Schroder. “A three-year holding period brings the accounts into Unclaimed Property’s custody sooner, and we have a better chance of finding the owners (or their heirs) if we start looking for them sooner rather than later.”
Schroder added that the bill was written to ensure that sports betting operators have clear instruction on the disposition of funds left in accounts with no activity. It goes into effect on Aug. 1. Sports betting funds are a new category of unclaimed property because sports wagering just became legal in Louisiana in January.
