ASSEMBLY JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 2946

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  OCTOBER 21, 2024

      The Assembly Judiciary Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 2946 (1R) with committee amendments.

      This bill provides that an individual’s failure to return an erroneous electronic payment between individuals to the sender is theft under certain circumstances.  Where an individual receives an electronic payment from another individual through a payment processor that was delivered under a mistake as to the nature or amount of the transfer or the identity of the recipient, the failure to return the payment to the sender constitutes theft where the recipient knew or should have known that the payment was erroneous.  Additionally, the bill adds a definition of “payment processor” to the chapter on theft offenses.  As amended, the bill provide that a clearance and settlement system, including a payment card network, is not considered a payment processor.

      The bill establishes an affirmative defense to a prosecution for theft for failure to return an erroneous electronic payment if the individual returns the funds within 30 days of either receipt of the funds or notification that the funds were erroneously transferred.  The amended bill also establishes a permissive inference that the individual did not know that their receipt of the electronic payment was erroneous if the person provides proof that the individual was not notified with 180 days after the transfer of funds that the payment was erroneous.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

      (1)  provide that a clearance and settlement system, including a payment card network, is not considered a payment processor; and

      (2)  provide that proof that an individual who received an electronic payment from another individual through a payment processor was not notified within 180 days after the transfer of funds that the payment was erroneous shall give rise to a permissive inference that the individual did not know that their receipt of the electronic payment was erroneous.