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JEFFERSON CITY, MO. -- The state reached a $303,000 settlement in a lawsuit against Sprint over uncashed and unclaimed rebate checks.

 State Treasurer Clint Zweifel and Attorney General Chris Koster reached the settlement Thrusday. The suit centered on whether uncashed rebate checks are reportable under Missouri’s Unclaimed Property laws.

“We argued that rebate checks become Unclaimed Property under Missouri law if they go uncashed for five years, the same way that stocks and bonds become Unclaimed Property,” Zweifel said in a statement.  “Ultimately, Missourians should know we hold their property forever until we can reunite them with what is theirs.”

The lawsuit began in 2006 against a rebate processing company, Young America Corporation, and expanded to include individual companies, including Sprint.

The lawsuit was to decide whether the rebate company of the retail company is responsible to report uncashed rebate checks to the state treasures’ office, so rebate holders can claim for their rebate check.

In order to reach a settlement, Koster and Zweifel agreed with Sprint to leave the disputed issues unresolved and avoid additional litigation.

“This settlement will ensure that Missourians will be able to get the full value of any rebate checks issued by Sprint and processed by Young America from 1999 through 2002,” Koster said in a statement. “In addition, Sprint has agreed to report all future unclaimed rebates annually.”