Arizona Must Face Due Process Claims Over Unclaimed Property

A proposed class action alleging Arizona doesn’t provide actual notice to owners of unclaimed property before claiming it for the state was revived Monday by the Ninth Circuit.

Arizona’s Unclaimed Property Act violates the due process clause of the US Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment by failing to require the state to inform property owners that the state is holding funds to which they are entitled, Judge Danielle J. Forrest wrote for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Unclaimed property—such as checks issued by healthcare providers, financial institutions, and car dealers that never reach their intended recipients—refers to money ...