North Carolina § 121-52 - Acquisition of title to loaned property.

§ 121-52. Acquisition of title to loaned property.

A museum or archives repository may acquire the title to documented property loaned to the museum or archives repository if (i) the term of the loan has expired and at least seven years have passed without written or other contact between the lender and the museum or archives repository or (ii) the term of the loan does not have an expiration date but at least seven years have passed without written or other contact between the lender and the museum or archives repository since the loan was made. To acquire title to property under this section, the museum or archives repository shall first send a notice by certified mail to the lender's last known address. The notice must include all of the following: The lender's name and last known address. A brief and general description of the property. A statement that the term of the loan has been terminated. The date or approximate date, if known, when the owner loaned the property to the museum or archives repository. The name, address, and telephone number of the museum or archives repository representative to contact for more information or to claim ownership. A statement that outlines the schedule and requirements for the museum or archives repository to acquire title under this section. If a valid claim to the property is not received by the museum or archives repository within 30 days from the date the notice was mailed, or if the museum or archives repository does not have an address for the lender, the museum or archives repository shall comply with the following: If the property has an estimated value in excess of $10,000, the museum or archives repository shall make a reasonable effort to locate and inform the owner, the owner's heirs or successors and publish a notice for no less than 365 consecutive days on an official Internet Web site created by the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources for such purpose. If the property has an estimated value that is less than or equal to $10,000, the museum or archives repository shall make a reasonable effort to locate and inform the owner, the owner's heirs or successors and publish a notice for no less than 180 consecutive days on an official Internet Web site created by the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources for such purpose. The notices required by subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection shall include all of the following: The information described in subdivisions (1) through (5) of subsection (b) of this section. A digital image of the property and any documentation executed by the parties. The date that the notice was posted. The date that the notice will be removed from the museum or archives repository's official Internet Web site and a statement that the museum or archives repository will acquire title to the loaned property if a valid claim to the property is not received by the museum or archives repository within 45 days of that date. If the requirements of this section are satisfied and if a valid claim to the loaned property is received by the museum or archives repository within 45 days after the date of the last publication of the notice required by subsection (c) of this section, the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources shall have 45 days to determine whether the claim is valid and that the claimant is the legal owner of the artifact. If the Department determines that the claim is valid and that the claimant is the legal owner of the artifact, the Department shall return the artifact to the owner at the owner's expense. If the requirements of this section are satisfied and if a valid claim to the loaned property is not received by the museum or archives repository within 45 days after the date of the last publication of the notice required by subsection (c) of this section, the museum or archives repository acquires the title to the property on the forty-sixth day after the date of the last publication of the notice under subsection (c) of this section. Upon acquiring title, the museum or archives repository shall own the property free and clear from all claims of ownership. History (2015-218, s. 2; 2015-241, s. 14.30(c).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2015-241, s. 14.30(c), provides: "The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is renamed the Department of Environmental Quality. All references to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources or the Department of Cultural Resources in acts of the 2015 General Assembly taking effect on or after the effective date of this section and in the Committee Report described in Section 33.2 of this act shall be construed to refer to the Department of Environmental Quality or the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, respectively. References to duties or requirements of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources with respect to entities transferred under subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall be construed as duties or requirements of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources as reorganized by this section." Pursuant to this authority, "Department of Natural and Cultural Resources" was substituted for "Department of Cultural Resources" in (c)(2) and (d). Session Laws 2015-241, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2015.'" Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2015-2017 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.6, is a severability clause.