Unclaimed Property Blog

Per current law you are entitled to one free credit report per year. However there are other ways in which you could get a free report.

If you believe your credit report has been used to perpetrate a fraud, you get a free copy of your credit report! OK, that may not be the happiest freebie ever.

Here are four other instances when you’re eligible for a free copy of at least one credit report:

If you have been denied credit for any reason and a credit report was used in making the decision, you have a right to a free look at this report. You have 60 days to mail proof of rejection to the reporting credit bureau to get your freebie.

Now-a-days it seems like the mail box is just more bad news. The credit card bills are coming in faster than the money. This is the case for more Americans than ever before. This is now backed up by a new survey.

The survey finds that low- and middle-income families are acquiring credit card debt to pay for essentials at the same time that business practices in the credit card industry are making this debt more costly and harder to manage.

Do you have your tax goal in mind? It may be one of those things where if you don’t know it can hurt you.

Your goal at the beginning of every tax year should be to have withheld at least 90% of what you think you will owe for that year, but not much more.

Your employer, using tables supplied by the government, determines how much of your paycheck should be withheld based on information you provide on the Form W-4. Many changes could have occurred since you last filled one out. The W-4, can be amended at any time.

There are many gift cards available and many variations as to their redemption. If you are confused, you are not alone. Here are some facts behind why one would feel confused.

Beneath a bold promise saying, “Treat this card like cash,” a card may say in smaller, lighter print, “Expires within one year unless otherwise designated by law except in California, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Illinois where there is no expiration.” Some cards do not have any disclosures.

Pennsylvania law is silent on one of the ugliest trends in gift cards: fees assessed for “maintenance” or “dormancy” that can quickly erode the value of a gift. Thanks to such fees, a gift card can become worthless even without an expiration date.

A small internet service provider (ISP) is rewarded for blowing the whistle on a spammer.

The small ISP network, CIS Internet Services, of Clinton, Iowa, has just won one of the largest payouts ever extracted from a spammer. The total amount won in the suit is $11.2 billion.

James McCalla, of Florida, was found to have sent more than 280 million illegal and unsolicited e-mails advertising mortgage and debt consolidation services through the ISP’s network.

Prosecutors argued that under state law in effect at the time, CIS was entitled to $10 per illegal e-mail.

Identity theft is a big concern for many these days. Safeguarding your Social Security number is the most effective action a person can take. What about a State? California is taking some action to help the consumer.

California’s newly enacted privacy law offers a better option to limiting the use of Social Security numbers, the law allows a consumer to place a “security freeze” on his credit report. The freeze prohibits consumer-credit-reporting agencies from releasing the consumer’s credit report or any information from it without express authorization from the consumer.

Are you interested in what this is?

It just may be an eye opener for you. The tax gap is what the IRS considers the difference between what taxpayers should have paid and what they did pay on time.

For 2001 the estimation is $345 billion. Since tax year 2001, with enforcement efforts the IRS has managed to recover $55 billion of that amount, bringing the net tax gap to $290 billion.

The IRS estimated that by March 2006 the tax gap would fall within a range of $312 billion to $353 billion.

The deals look great, some even too good to be true. But before you click to commit to that purchase you should do a safety check. Below you will find some helpful hints to avoid being scammed.

1. Bigger names equal better protection.

Go with reputable companies you’ve heard of, such as Amazon.com. These sites put their name on the line.

The bigger company will also have deals that they will follow through on. The promise of a computer for $50 isn’t always what is advertised with a less reputable company.

That library card you received as a child could cost you as an adult. Read on to find out how.

If you haven’t returned an overdue library book your credit rating could drop by 100 points! This also applies to the videos that can now be rented at libraries.

More and more public libraries are turning to collection agencies to make sure you pay up.

Unique Management Services is an example of a recovery service that will report your overdue fines to your credit agency if you don’t pay up after 120 days.

Sometimes you can go too far to retrieve money you feel is taken unfairly. Here is an example just that.

A 52-year-old man from the German town of Darmstadt tried without success to get his money back. He wanted his 400 euros ($475) worth of what he said was “bad marijuana” from his dealer returned. The dealer would not return the money so he turned to the police for help.

“It is un-usable,” the man told police in the hope they would help him get his money back.