Unclaimed Property Blog

Inactive bank accounts are one of the major contributors to the unclaimed cash with which U.S. state treasury is overflowing. States neither can use this huge unclaimed cash nor can dispose it off. States can only wait for the rightful owners of the unclaimed cash to come forward, stake claim and take away what is theirs.

Bank accounts and banking activities are contributing to the rising mound of unclaimed property. Savings accounts that are not properly closed or left inactive are turning out to be the major cause of concern. Banks in the U.S. are holding many accounts that are dormant. The number of checks that are not redeemed and forgotten are moreso a concern for the banks.

Most of the U.S. states are eyeing the unclaimed money lying in their coffers to fix their budget deficits. States are always on the lookout for the sources of additional revenue generation, and unclaimed property is quickly becoming one of the few sources of filling the void in the budget.

The center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that the combined state budget deficit over the next two and a half years is likely to be about $350 billion. This will account for about 20% of the state budget.

Lost escrow amounts are another main contribution to the large amount of unclaimed money lying with the state treasure. Escrow amounts are the cash deposited with a third party during any deed between the two parties. Securing the amount separately assures both the parties involved in the agreement that the other party will not default either on the payment or the project. The escrow amount remains unpaid till all the conditions of the contract between the parties are met or it is paid partially after completion of every step of the project.

Forgotten or lost utility deposits are one of the major contributors to the billions of unclaimed cash and property lying in U.S. state coffers. While moving places and changing residences from one state to another, most of the citizens neglect to follow proper procedure to get back the utility deposits. These small amounts have burdened U.S. states with huge unclaimed cash.

Why are Utility Deposits Required?

Utility deposits acts as a security to the agencies providing gas, electric or water supply to the citizens. Incase citizens default on paying the bills, these security deposits act as a recovery amount for the agencies. These also act as a cover up cost incase the user damages the equipment or installations.

Lost money, also known as unclaimed cash or unclaimed money, is becoming a cause of concern for many American states. The states are trying their best to help citizens in locating lost money.

Most of the state governments are sitting over billions of unclaimed cash and are willing to return it to the owners. Every U.S. state, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Quebec and British Columbia have unclaimed property programs that are dedicated to finding owners of lost and forgotten assets.

Claim back any unclaimed property in California before the state uses it to pay off the deficit! The state of California is the eighth-largest economy in the world; however, for the last couple of years it is facing a major issue of budget deficit. And to cover up this deficit, the California state government is pondering upon utilizing the huge unclaimed cash and property amount.

The state treasurer of California is currently sitting on over more than $5.7 billion in the form of unclaimed property belonging to approximately 11.6 million individuals and organizations. The state has acquired this huge chunk from over $32 billion unclaimed cash and property held by the U.S.

Uncashed paychecks are one of the main contributors to the billions of unclaimed cash lying with the state treasurers of the U.S. In spite of relentless efforts by the state governments to return the cash to the rightful owners, the amount is staggering more and more by every passing day. It has reached over $32 billion recently with no signs of receding.

How Paychecks Go Uncashed?

It’s interesting to note how paychecks end up remaining uncashed. One Minnesota citizen found a $700 paycheck lying in his old books. He discovered it after one and a half years while he was dusting off the books.

Finding lost money is one way to increase wealth. How to increase wealth is an obvious question in everybody’s mind. All our endeavors throughout the day are not only to earn money but also to create and increase wealth over a period of time. We try different approaches to increase wealth. These include savings, investments and cutting down on expenditure.

A major source that may help us in increasing our wealth often go unnoticed. Most of us are not even aware that it could bring us some money. This source is called as lost money, forgotten money or unclaimed cash.

“Lost cash? Me? … Never!” may be your reaction if suggested to search for any lost cash lying unclaimed in your name. However, the brief online search may prove otherwise, as almost every American has at least one form of unclaimed cash or property lying on his/her name.

Most of the Americans have forgotten small amounts incurred to them from closed bank accounts, dividend pay-offs, insurance claims, tax refunds, utility deposits, oil royalties, wages, etc., which they did not bother to collect. The unclaimed cash ranging from a few dollars to a few millions is dormant in the custody of various state treasurers. In spite of the states’ rigorous efforts, there are still many citizens who are not aware of how to recover the lost cash.

$35 billion of unclaimed money isn’t a small amount. Many economies would be willing to have this amount at their disposal. Surprisingly, this huge cache is lying dormant with U.S. in the form of unclaimed cash.

In spite of the relentless efforts by U.S. State Treasurer, less numbers of people are turning up to claim unclaimed cash in their name. Though, the number is on the rise owing to a massive drive taken up by the states, the heap of unclaimed cash is reducing at much less speed than expected.