Abandoned / Lost and Found Property Procedures

Definitions

  1. “Intangible Property” – includes money, checks, drafts, deposits, interest, dividends, income, credit balances, overpayments, gift certificates, security deposits, refunds, credit memos, unpaid wages, unused airline tickets, stocks, bonds, securities, amounts due and payable under the terms of insurance policies and/or distributions from a trust or custodial fund, such as health, welfare, pension, vacation severance, retirement, death, stock purchase, profit sharing, employee savings, unemployment insurance, or similar benefits.
  2. “Tangible Property” – means all property that is not intangible property.
  3. “Unclaimed Property” – means tangible property that comes into the hands of a University department or employee that remains unclaimed for thirty days or for which no owner can be identified within thirty days after a reasonable and diligent search. “Unclaimed Property”- does not include intangible property which is governed by Utah State Code.
  4. “Abandoned Property” – includes tangible property left in a locker, dormitory room, closet, apartment or other rental space provided by the University or a University department.
  5. “Lost Property” – includes tangible property and intangible property found and turned in to a University department or tangible property and intangible property left in a University department.
  6. “Illegal and or Controlled Substances” includes drugs or chemicals that are regulated by Federal or State of Utah laws. Usually these drugs or chemicals are illegal to possess, sell, manufacture or use unless under a physicians or dentist prescription.
  7. “Hazardous Materials” – Property containing substances that are identified as hazardous by federal and/or state laws and regulations and/or by university policies and procedures as administered by the Office of Environmental Health and Safety.

Procedures

  1. Lost property turned into the local law enforcement agency, the agency shall follow State of Utah Code 77-24a before sending the property to University Surplus and Salvage.
  2. Abandoned Property from Departments that rent premises must follow State of Utah Code 78B-6-815 and Code 78B-6-816 before sending the property, from those premises, to University Surplus and Salvage.
  3. Departments that normally rent or allocate space shall establish a “Lost and Found” unit for their department. These shall include but are not limited to: Huntsman Center, College of Health (HPER), Housing and Residential Education, Student Life Center, University Student Apartments, Marriott Library, and University Hospital.
  4. Departments that find tangible or intangible property left in their department or that have lost property turned into them by an individual shall have a Lost & Found Property form prepared stating:
    1. How the property came into their possession, including time, date and place.
    2. That the finder does not know who the owner is.
    3. That the property is not stolen, to the department’s or finder’s knowledge.
    4. That possession of the property is not unlawful.
    5. That the finder has provided all the information at their disposal, which could lead to a determination of the owner of the property.
  5. Lost Property and the completed Lost & Found Property form shall be maintained in the finding department for thirty (30) days, while an effort is being made to identify the owner. At the end of thirty (30) days the Lost Property and the completed Lost & Found Property form shall be turned over to University Surplus & Salvage.
  6. University Surplus & Salvage will dispose of the Tangible Property, either by donation, discarding, or sale of the property.
  7. University Surplus & Salvage will dispose of the Intangible Property according to Utah State Code.
  8. Potential owners of the property may recover it by making a proper identification of the item, showing identification, paying any reasonable costs incurred in storing the item and in locating the owner, and by completing a Lost & Found Claim form.
  9. Notify immediately the University of Utah Police of illegal and or controlled substances turned into or found in Lost and Found.  The police may give a police case number to the illegal and or controlled substances found. Keep the police case number to maintain the chain of custody of the lost and found property turned over to the police.
  10. Hazardous Materials may be disposed immediately through the Office of Environmental Health and Safety.
  11. Personal hygiene property not in a container, perishable property, food, drink and garbage need not be stored and may be discarded immediately.
  12. Any property that poses health, safety and security risks may be disposed of immediately.
  13. Bankcards turned into University Surplus and Salvage will be shredded as soon as possible. They will be stored in a secure area while waiting for shredding.
  14. USB flash drives, SD cards and like property will not be inserted into any computers to look for owners names because of the danger of malware and ransomware.
  15. U Cards are sent to the Union UCard office as soon as possible after they are received at the University Surplus and Salvage Department.
  16. Identification is shredded or returned to the originating office after the storage period has expired.
  17. Property identified and impounded per University of Utah Policy 3-232: Operating Regulations for Bicycles, Skateboards, Rollerskates and Scooters (Non-motorized Riding Devices) and vehicles (including bicycles) abandoned per Utah Administrative Code R810-1-13 and sent to University Surplus and Salvage will be immediately discarded or sold.
  18.  Abandoned property, as described in paragraph two (2), received by the University Surplus and Salvage Department (Surplus) is immediately discarded, sold or donated.  This includes property and bicycles from Housing and Residential Education and University Student Apartments after it has been held for thirty (30) days by them. Other lost property received by Surplus is held for a total of sixty (60) days.

References: State of Utah Code 78B-6-815, 78B-6-816 and 77-24a.

Surplus & Salvage – 2110 East Stover Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84113-4500 – Phone: 801.581.7917 – Fax: 801.585.3051