Archive for the “UnclaimedProperty” Category

Unclaimed Money isn’t just for those living in the contiguous 48! That’s right, Hawaii’s Department of Budget and Finance is currently seeking the rightful owners of HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars in unclaimed property, but according to the Honolulu Advertiser, taking back your Hawaii unclaimed money is often easier said than done:

Hawai’i's unclaimed property program says it wants to return $130 million of forgotten bank accounts, checks, stocks and other assets to their rightful owners.

But some people who’ve applied for the funds say they’ve been denied payment because they couldn’t prove they lived somewhere two decades ago or couldn’t prove they were the intended recipient of a check the state possesses.

The article reports on a number of personal HI unclaimed money stories, detailing the difficulties folks have had in taking back money that belongs to them.

Many people are having trouble proving their identity, while others are running in to verification problems upon learning that the companies that turned the unclaimed funds over to the state, no longer exist.

The main lesson learned from the article, is that we should all keep records. This sounds like common sense to a lot of people, but you’d be surprised how many people keep virtually no records.

There are other things you can do that will give you an edge in your unclaimed money search. Aside from having proper ID and diligently keeping records, you should learn how to search both online and off-line, as well as learn how to search for pre-escheat missing money. Pre-escheat cash is money that has yet to be turned over to the state (so they have no record of it) but it’s still out there in unclaimed property limbo.

As you can see from the chart below, most unclaimed money remains in the hands of the Hawaiian government because these stumbling blocks have kept a lot of missing money from turning in to found money:
hawaiigraph.GIF

Click here to learn how to perform a thorough search for unclaimed money in Hawaii.

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A recent article on the web site of ABC affiliate WBAY restated the problem with returning Wisconsin unclaimed money to it’s proper owners – people still believe it’s a scam!

“A lot of people still think it’s a scam, ‘Oh, they’re going to arrest me.’ I’m assuring people that it’s not a scam and we’re not going to arrest anyone, and we just have something that belongs to them that we would like to give back,” Sass said.

It’s hard to believe that even today, after many years of credible folks, even Oprah Winfrey, explaining to the public that there truly are BILLIONS in unclaimed money across the country, just waiting to be claimed by average citizens.

According to the Wisconsin State Treasure’s Office, the state of WI is currently holding $281 million. That’s right, over a quarter of a BILLION in lost assets, in the state of Wisconsin.

There’s even $4.6 million in unclaimed property in Brown County, WI alone!

There’s $4.6 million in unclaimed property in Brown County, and the state treasurer was in Green Bay Friday trying to give it back to its rightful owners.

Are you due a pile of Wisconsin found money, like some people?

According to Sass, one of the biggest claims her office handled was for $750,000 in unclaimed property.

I’m tempted to make an obvious joke about folks from Wisconsin trying to get their cheese… but I won’t. Instead I’ll just encourage you to get started doing a thorough Wisconsin unclaimed money search.

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Wow, even the NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg discovered he was owed unclaimed money!

October 22, 2007 — ALBANY – To a billionaire like him, it may be pocket change, but Mayor Bloomberg collected nearly $76,000 this year in unclaimed funds from the state Comptroller’s Office, The Post has learned.

The state cut the mayor a check for $75,900 in August, according to the Comptrol ler’s Office.

The money is left from some business dealings he was a part of before becoming mayor.

Now that may be interesting, learning that a billionaire mayor of New York City was able to make a claim for almost $76,000, but what does it mean for you? Not much, but here’s the good news!

Meanwhile, more than $8 billion – belonging to 22 million accounts – remains in the state’s unclaimed-money funds.

And while $75,900 may seem high, the largest amount paid out by the fund so far has been $5.9 million, to the heirs of an unidentified estate in 2005.

As for the largest sum yet to be claimed, that, according to the Comptroller’s Office, is a cool $1.7 million.

Excellent point about that $76k in unclaimed property not meaning much to a billionaire like Bloomberg, but I doubt whoever made $5.9 million claim sneezed at it! Then again, maybe they did. How much money must one have to simply forget about almost $6 million, and have it turn up somewhere down the road as found money?

But the most important part of this story (to regular folks like you and me) is the more than $8 Billion in NY unclaimed money, belonging to 22 million. people. That number is almost unbelievable, but I suppose when you factor in that NY is a large state, and of course is home to New York city which might as well be the center of the world, it starts to make sense.

Bottom line, 22 million of you need to get a move on, tracking down your missing unclaimed funds! The government has something that belongs to YOU and you just need to learn how to locate and regain control of your unclaimed money, because you can bet they aren’t going to go out of their way to find you!

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As with everything in the Lone Star State, the total dollar amount of Texas Unclaimed Money (both returned and still waiting to be claimed) is HUGE.

Listen to the total amount of unclaimed property returned to citizens of Texas in fiscal 2007:

About $119 million in unclaimed property was returned in Fiscal Year 2007 according to the comptroller’s office.

Wow, huh? Well, if you’re sitting their in Houston, Dallas, or even Dripping Springs thinking “where’s my money!?”, you might still be in luck. Despite having just paid out $119 million in unclaimed funds Texas still owes a lot of found money:

Comptroller Susan Combs published the list of 152,000 people with at least $250 that’s waiting to be claimed.

That translates in to AT LEAST another $38 million (if every one of the 152k only had the minimum $250 claim. Many certainly are owed more). And this also doesn’t include smaller claims that might belong to you.

Often missing money comes in small amounts, which is why it went missing in the first place, so even if your name wasn’t in the paper, you still might be due a claim. Texas Unclaimed Money could come from any of the following sources:

- a dormant bank account
- a forgotten utility deposit
- an old uncashed check
- unclaimed investment income
- securities
- family heirlooms from an abandoned safe deposit box
- other valuable assets the original owners have forgotten.

If you think there’s even a slight chance that you may have some forgotten money in one of these types of accounts, you owe it to yourself to start your search now. Why not take YOUR MONEY back from the government and get that new iPhone you’ve been wanting or take that vacation you’ve been contemplating, or maybe just pay off your bills. It’s your money, do what you want with it, just don’t let the government hold your money any longer!

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I’m always shocked to learn that there are people out there who are still skeptical about unclaimed property. I guess it’s just tough for some to image that there are literally BILLIONS OF DOLLARS just waiting to be found and claimed by people, just like YOU!

For those of you who remain skeptics about unclaimed money, let this week’s unclaimed funds story from the Birmingham Business Journal be a smoking gun for you:

Alabama’s treasury department reported Tuesday that a record $23 million has been paid out in unclaimed property so far this year – and another $373 million is still available for collection.

(Emphasis mine. Read the rest here)

That translates to $396 million, of which only $23 million has been collected!!! What are you Alabamans waiting for!? Wouldn’t you rather have that found money than let the government hold on to it? I mean, sure it’s exciting, picturing your money sitting on paper in a file in some state office… but wouldn’t a vacation or paid bills be just a little more exciting?

I always tell people that they need to stop giving up on their unclaimedproperty search so easily, when an online search from some internet site turns up no records or bogus records intended to make people chase their tails.

The fact that OVER 94% of the unclaimed money in Alabama still not been claimed proves my point – people don’t know how to search. UnclaimedMoney.net teaches you search strategies and points you towards resources that the other sites won’t.

Did you know searching online won’t cover all of your bases? Did you know there is unclaimed money out there that hasn’t been turned over to the state yet, and thus no record exists in the state databases? These challenges can be overcome with UnclaimedMoney.net’s help.

As for anyone living in AL, I suggest you get moving on searching for and claiming all that Alabama Unclaimed Money. Your state is sitting on heap of cash, and there’s a good chance some of it is yours!

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