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Gift certificates. If a consumer does not use a gift certificate within the time period specified by the applicable state’s escheat statute, the issuer of the certificate must pay the state the value of the certificate. The amount presumed abandoned by the consumer is what was paid for the gift certificate. If the consumer paid nothing, then the amount abandoned is the certificate’s "fair value", however that may be determined (or 60% of its value if the state has adopted the 1995 Uniform Act). In order to monitor this potential source of income, states require businesses to give them some type of periodic reports of the amount of unclaimed property they are holding. In spite of state requirements, and the large amounts of money that may be involved, escheat laws have largely escaped notice for most businesses until a few years ago when various states have enacted or proposed enacting new legislation involving gift certificates.