Family Finds Lost Heirlooms In Colorado Unclaimed Property Division
A jade necklace, assorted jewelry, a diamond-encrusted Buddha figurine- these are some of the family heirlooms that Nora Wang thought she had lost forever. A short while after receiving an overseas call from her son (she’s now based in Taiwan), the 60ish Chinese immigrant joyously finds out the priceless heirlooms that have been passed-down through her grandmother still remains with her family. This according to a report in the Rocky Mountain News.
“The Great Colorado Payback” is a program run by the State Treasurer’s office aiming to reunite Colorado unclaimed money and property to its rightful owners. Residents that have lost track of their financial assets through forgetfulness, change of address, death, etc. Nora Wang lost track of her safe deposit box when her bank’s ownership changed hands and she moved to Taiwan from the U.S.
Right now, the Colorado unclaimed money pile has grown to $50 million from unclaimed property collected throughout the State. The National Unclaimed Property Law, to keep citizens from losing their financial assets altogether, requires businesses and financial institutions to hand over dormant and idle accounts, uncashed checks, insurance policies, forgotten stocks and bonds and the like to the State. Tangible unclaimed property are auctioned-off if the State can’t find the owners after a while, so Wang was very fortunate not to have had her family jewels converted to Colorado unclaimed money.
Wang’s case just shows how important it is for Americans to do an unclaimed property search in all the State Treasuries they may have property in. Knowing how to do a thorough search for unclaimed money can spell cash for Americans during lean times like this.
South Carolina Unclaimed Money Returned To 100 Year-old Woman
SC State Treasurer encourages everyone to take advantage of “The Palmetto Payback.” A program run by his office annually to reunite residents with the South Carolina unclaimed money collected by the State annually. If you don’t find unclaimed money in your name after doing an unclaimed money search, chances are you’ll find some owed to a relative or a friend. This is what 100 year-old Hattie Miller’s niece found out after hearing about the existence of South Carolina unclaimed money in the State’s Unclaimed Property website. Converse Chellis, SC Treasurer personally delivered the check to what may be the oldest recipient of US unclaimed funds according to Fox Carolina News. Here’s part of an article on South Carolina unclaimed money written by a state unclaimed money expert:
As of October 2007, it was determined by the Office of the State Treasurer of SC that the state is currently holding $200 million that belongs to citizens who need only step forward and claim it, if they can find it. Despite increased efforts to reunite South Carolina unclaimed money with its rightful owners, which lead to a record return of $900,000 in Sept. 2007, the pile of cash continues to grow.
Each year, South Carolina, like most states, continues to take in more money than it’s able to return to the people. The primary problem is the fact that most people are completely unaware that these funds even exist, which is obvious, or they’d never have forgotten about them long enough for them to be considered “unclaimed”. Even those who have learned about the billions of dollars in unclaimed property all across the country usually don’t know how to go about finding them.
The national unclaimed money total has amassed $33 billion spread out among the various State Treasuries across the U.S. This just reflects the irony that a lot of people are so busy trying to make a living that they don’t realize they’re missing money and that much of it is in the government’s hands. Another recession is highly likely and Americans are going to need all the cash they can get. Read more about South Carolina unclaimed money.
Georgia Unclaimed Money- Almost $1B Owed To Residents
Most residents of GA State may not be aware about State unclaimed property. If they did, certainly the $684 million Georgia unclaimed property wouldn’t have ballooned to $900 million during the current fiscal year. As mandated by US law, the State collects idle financial assets from various businesses, insurance companies, banks and other financial establishments every year. Financial assets that have been abandoned and whose owners haven’t been located for a a few years are ‘escheated’ to the State as Georgia unclaimed property. Here’s part of an article on Georgia unclaimed money written by an unclaimed property expert:
Georgia’s Unclaimed Property Law or escheat law which originates from feudal laws in England require abandoned and forgotten assets such as bank accounts, income tax refunds, uncashed checks, uncollected wages, insurance premium overpayments, gift certificates, cash dividends on stocks and mineral deposits, and others to be turned-over to the hands of the state after a specified ‘dormancy period’. This period for Georgia is 5 years and less for other financial assets.”
Escheat laws were passed to protect citizens’ lost money- giving the State responsibility for the safekeeping of residents’ unclaimed money and property lest the financial entities holding them keep it for themselves. Some criticize that some States are seizing citizens’ unclaimed funds for the purpose of balancing their budgets. “When they are used the way they were intended, which is as a mechanism to help reunite property owners with their lost or abandoned property, then I think they’re a good thing,” says Atlanta lawyer John Coalson who specializes in Georgia unclaimed money. “When they’re used as a means for states to simply raise money, then I think states ought to call a tax ‘a tax’ and not just take people’s property.”
Whichever way the State uses citizens’ unclaimed property, there’s no question that more residents should check if they are owed part of the $900 million GA unclaimed money pie.
Atlanta resident and grade school teacher Sheila Sellers found out she had lost money in her name. She got a letter from the GA Department of Revenue informing her of a substantial amount of cash- $1700 from old stocks and a forgotten bank account from out of state. “Right in time for Christmas. I plan on being out the day after Thanksgiving,” said Sellers in a WGCL News report.
Other residents may want to check themselves too. Almost a billion dollars unclaimed money means good odds of coming up with something. All they have to do is go online to do a search for unclaimed money.
Arkansas Unclaimed Money
Residents of Arkansas would be interested to know that the State’s annual revenues are 5.6 percent higher than the previous year’s- making a jump from $19.6 million to $20.9 million. Why in the world would residents find this interesting? Well it’s because the revenue increase was brought about by a boost in the amount of Arkansas unclaimed money from assets they’ve lost track of.
Each year the state collects abandoned bank accounts, uncollected salary checks, insurance benefits, languishing stocks and bonds and similar assets held by banks and businesses state-wide. The National Unclaimed Property Law requires financial entities to turn these over to the government after a specified dormancy period of usually 3-5 years. Tangible items from safe deposit boxes are also turned over to the Treasury and these have included two Roman coins that dates back to the time of Jesus and 600 ounces of pure gold coins belonging to an elderly widow. Her late husband apparently died a week after leaving the 600 South African Krugerrands in a bank.
In Arkansas, unclaimed money goes into the State’s General fund until its rightful owners come along. $23 million was added to the AK unclaimed money pile this year and around 5,000 residents have over $375 in their name.
State unclaimed money piles are getting bigger across the U.S. because citizens aren’t aware about their missing money. Most of the ones that know about it never bother to do an unclaimed property search thinking it’s too much of a hassle and the amount of their unclaimed money in State hands isn’t worth the effort. Well, quite true- if you didn’t know how and where to look. Doing a proper online search using tips from an unclaimed property expert can spell a significant amount of extra cash for a lot of people. Over $30 billion national unclaimed funds are waiting for the rightful owners right now. Ironically, these people are too busy making ends meet and are oblivious about their missing money.
Watch this interesting news report showing people finding their lost money:
