Unclaimed Property Blog

Could this be a scam? Could a business exist to claim property that has been abandoned and then not return the property over to the rightful owner? Read on and decide for yourself.

Patricia Reeves of San Diego was overjoyed last summer upon learning that she was the legal owner of thousands of dollars being held by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC).

Someone from Titan Asset Recovery, a Vancouver company, told her they could retrieve the money — they didn’t say how much — if Reeves allowed Titan to take a 35 percent cut.

To some the Sunday paper means savings via coupons. The February 12,2006 edition of the Sun-Times could mean much more for some Illinois residents.

Inserted inside the Sun-Times is a 108-page list of people that have money being held by the state. This list of 59,280 new names of people and businesses add to the more than 5.7 million others from previous years. The state estimates it has hundreds of millions of dollars waiting to be collected.

Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency in Greenwich, Connecticut is holding bond money and having difficulty finding the rightful owner to return the bond once the job is done.

The wetlands agency is holding $3.8 million in outstanding bonds. Some being unclaimed for more than two
decades.

How could this be? Simply put, the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency requires a bond to be posted prior to doing work near or in wetlands. The bond is often for thousands of dollars, which the town holds as a way of ensuring that the work done does not exceed what the agency permits.

Have you seen an increase in your household debt? More bills in the mail and less checks going out for payment? You are not alone.

Household debt grew at the fastest rate since 1987, the Federal Reserve said. The brighter side of this is that the net wealth of American households rose in the third quarter of 2005 as real estate and financial assets gained value.

Household debt grew at an annual rate of 11.6 percent, the steepest climb since the second quarter of 1987, when it rose 12.2 percent, the Federal Reserve said. Household real estate assets grew by $615 billion in the third quarter, while financial assets rose by $959.3 billion.

The Internal Revenue Service wants to help you, it is currently warning taxpayers of a new scam to “phish” vital personal information from unsuspecting targets.

Here is how it is done, the perpetrators are sending e-mails to consumers claiming to be the IRS and directing them to an Internet link that asks for Social Security numbers and credit card information.

The IRS does not ask for personal identifying or financial information by using unsolicited e-mails and taxpayers do not have to complete a special form to obtain a refund.

This e-mail scheme is an attempt to trick the recipients. You are being advised to not respond.

Regulatory guidelines on credit card minimum payments were made three years ago. Read on to find out how this will affect your credit card bill.

Most of the top 10 credit card issuers have raised their minimum payments the last quarter of 2005. The result is that your payments have increased even if you have not added to the card.

The higher minimum credit card payments are the result of guidelines issued in January 2003 by the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision. Card issuers were to adopt higher minimums by the end of 2005, sooner if feasible.

Imagine day in and day out you see listings of people that are owed thousands of dollars and they are not even aware of it. You know the rightful owner of some of this money may never be found - what do you do? Will this temptation lead you down the wrong path? It may have for a Cook County, Illinois treasurer’s office employee.

Jonathan Martin, a Cook County treasurer’s office employee used his position and access to data in an elaborate scheme involving property tax refunds owed to taxpayers, prosecutors alleged. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted of official misconduct.

Iowa State Treasurer, Mike Fitzgerald, is not going to just sit back and do nothing about it. What is it? It is a rebate, you know, when you make a purchase with an offer to get money back. Well some don’t give you the money back. Here is a story about that exact issue.

State Treasurer Fitzgerald says he has asked the Attorney General to file a lawsuit against Young America Corporation for unpaid rebates. Fitzgerald found that this company as well as others offer refunds or rebates, but does not make good on the offer.

An amnesty was recently announced regarding businesses and unclaimed property. This could save some businesses quite a bit of money.

Nebraska state Treasurer, Ron Ross, is the one behind this amnesty. He is giving all businesses in Nebraska until June 30th to report any unclaimed property they may be holding and have failed to report.

State law requires the treasurer’s office to collect unclaimed property, such as paychecks of employees who have quit and cannot be found. The business owner has the responsibility to report this otherwise fines will be incurred.

It did not seem so long ago that the plastic credit card was new and innovative. Some creditors are looking to revamp it so that the consumer can spend less time at cash registers. Like anything new, it does bring forward questions about safety and spending habits.

Chase wants you to ‘Blink’, MasterCard wants you to ‘Tap and Go’ and American Express wants you to ExpressPay. What does all this mean for you?

It means that you can have incremental time saved when making purchases. The retailer may lose sales if the lines are too long or too slow. Proponents say it will save time for consumers and could make money for merchants.