Unclaimed Property Blog

This spring along with flowers blooming some people’s net worth could bloom. Could you be one?

Each spring in Maine the State Treasurer’s Unclaimed Property Division releases a list of unclaimed property being held by the Treasurer’s office for the rightful owner to claim.

Typically unclaimed assets are savings and checking accounts, contents of safe deposit boxes, life insurance policies, utility deposits, uncashed pay checks, undistributed dividends, from a bank account you forgot to close, or even a gift certificate.

What a deal — you increase your education and you tax liability may decrease.

You have a student loan for furthering your education which is a valuable commodity. The education can pay off later with a good job at a higher income for your knowledge.

With tax time approaching the student loan may make you eligible to deduct up to $2,500 of the interest you paid on the loan last year. This deduction will help reduce your taxable income, possibly giving you a smaller tax bill.

This is different, the city recognized a mistake and is now correcting the error. This is happy news for about 5,000 property owners in Port St. Lucie.

Two million dollars sits inside a bank vault in Fort Pierce, waiting for its rightful owners to make their claim.

Three years ago a judge ordered Port St. Lucie to repay owners of 45,000 vacant lots $14.4 million in storm-water utility fees. To date $2 million remains unclaimed, either because the recipients cannot be found, they lost their checks or simply forgot to cash them.

There is a fight going on with credit scores. It is the FICO credit score against the big three credit bureaus. Read on for details.

FICO, Fair Isaac Company, is the creator of a system to give consumers a credit score. A credit “score” simply assigns a number to indicate how much risk you pose as a borrower. Fair Isaac’s formula for scoring is the one lenders have chosen to use as they like it the best.

The three big credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. They are private companies that each track your accounts, balances and payment habits which make your credit report. They recently worked together to make a new credit score call VantageScore.

Each state has laws to govern the unclaimed property collected, held and distributed, read on for how Oregon handles their unclaimed money and property.

Oregon currently holds $200 million in unclaimed property at the Department of State Lands. The money is held in the Common School Fund. This trust fund also receives the profits from economic activity on state-owned land. Interest earned on that fund goes to help K-12 schools.

The money and property is derived from a variety of sources, such as utility refunds, uncashed payroll checks, estates with no known heirs, stocks, unclaimed tax refunds and abandoned safe deposit boxes.

There is so much competition in the world today, so much so that credit cards are offering perks that you may have only dreamed of.

I used to be that only the rich hired servants to make life easier. Now many have servants. So the rich have a new scheme, they get better credit cards, too.

How could it be that a credit card is better? Answer these questions regarding your current credit card: has it gotten backstage passes to a Rolling Stones concert, an invite to an invitation-only private shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue, personal assistants and concierge services? If you answered no, then you are not a holder of a prestige credit card such as the American Express Centurion, Visa Signature and World MasterCard cards.

There are some things that can be avoided and bankruptcy is one of them. Read on for action that can be taken to sidestep bankruptcy.

Many bankruptcies can be avoided by practicing good money management. Here are some basic steps you can and should take:

* Avoid impulse spending.
* Don’t use a credit card unless you have the cash to pay for the purchase in full when the bill arrives.
* Prepare a realistic budget and stick to it.
* Don’t buy a house that you cannot comfortably afford.
* Make sure you’re adequately covered by insurance (medical, homeowners, auto).
* Invest wisely and not necessarily on high-risk investments.
* Don’t co-sign for a friend or relative with questionable financial habits.

Sometimes the things you do not know can hurt you. What is your bankruptcy IQ? Read on for some information that may help increase your understanding of bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy isn’t something you like to think about, but you may find yourself considering it at some point in your life. How do know if it’s the right thing for you?

Let’s start with information on what it is. Bankruptcy is a federal court process that helps individuals and businesses repay their debts under the protection of the bankruptcy court (Chapter 13 Bankruptcy) or wipe their debts out altogether (Chapter 7 Bankruptcy). When you file for bankruptcy, an automatic stay goes into effect which prohibits your creditors from taking action to collect the debt without the approval of the court.

The convenience is wonderful, however they can also become very inconvenient. Read on to find out how.

By having several cards you can lose track of what the interest rates are. The end result could be a pricier purchase than you can afford at the higher interest rate. One of two cards maximum is all you need. With one or two cards, you can keep track of purchases and make sure you pay each on time.

These tips may seem like common sense, because they are. What has happened is so many of us lose that common sense viewpoint when we see items we want but don’t need.

Credit cards can be a great thing. They’re convenient, they can help build good credit if used properly and they are very useful in emergencies. However, they can be dangerous.

How sweet the temptation to overspend, how disastrous the end result of overspending. The danger is when you charge more than you can afford, make very low monthly payments and combine that with high credit card interest rates. This is the basic cause for many people to spiral into debt.