Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a court filing yesterday asked a bankruptcy judge to provide holders of an estimated $43 million in gift cards priority status to collect and asked that the state be granted permission to file a claim on behalf of its citizens for any amount not redeemed, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported today. According to the filing, the RadioShack gift cards did not list an expiration date and the company continued to tell customers after filing for bankruptcy that they do not expire. But in court proceedings, an expiration date of March 31 was established for redemption. The state contends that RadioShack made no effort to provide cardholders with information on how to file a claim in bankruptcy court for any unredeemed amount. Now, the company should not be allowed to distribute the consumer funds to other creditors, the state contends.
