Unclaimed Property Blog

Take a good look, some famous people and an airport?

What do Aretha Franklin, Marshall Mathers (Eminem), former Michigan governor John Engler, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport have in common? All are listed on different databases that say they are the owners of unclaimed property.

Most of the money comes from forgotten bank accounts, stocks, mutual funds, bonds and dividends although there are other sources for unclaimed property.

The recipient of a gift subscription receives the magazine. Think all is well? Think again, they also receive a bill.

After lots of contemplating about giving the right gift you decide on a subscription to the person’s favorite magazine. You fill out all the needed information for this person to receive the magazine and you to receive the bill. You then pay the bill in full upon receipt.

A thief steals your laptop and garners lots of personal information, perhaps corporate information. Industry is changing to help lessen the damage by laptop thefts.

Recent thefts of laptops with sensitive corporate data have prompted more companies and individuals to purchase everything from locks to tracking software to protect data from PC snatchers..

Hardware and software is being purchased to create layers and layers of “protection”. One such software is designed to track a computer’s location when it is logged onto the internet.

By now most consumers are aware of their credit score and how to manage finances to improve their score. Here is some information about a bankruptcy risk score and how you can improve it.

Although few people are aware of their bankruptcy risk score, and even fewer have actually seen it, the score could have a big impact on your credit life.

The bankruptcy risk score is the score that credit reporting agencies use to determine your potential (risk) of filing for bankruptcy.

Improving the score could have significant financial benefits.

There are times when the money in your IRA is needed, but then when you look at the penalties attached, you know you have to find alternative solutions. Here are withdrawals that can be made without penalty

When you take money out of an individual retirement account (IRA) before you reach age 59½, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers these premature distributions. Therefore you would incur a 10% penalty charge on the amount withdrawn in addition to owing any tax that might be due on the money.

The good news is there are times when the IRS says it is OK to use your retirement savings early.

Were you aware that you have a score for bankruptcy? Read on for details.

You probably already know about your credit score. That’s the number that creditors use to say yeah or nay on loans, increase your your credit card limit or perhaps prevented you from the lowest interest rate on your dream car. Well there’s another scoring tool you should know about. This one is called the bankruptcy risk score.

This little secret has been kept hidden from consumers for nearly 20 years.

So if you have a score what were you graded on? Your ability or likeliness to file for bankruptcy.

A recent survey shows that young people don’t know it all when it comes to finances and economics. In fact they only know half.

In 2002 a survey taken by high school seniors regarding personal finance and economics showed a 50.2% accurate knowledge on the subjects. The 2004 survey results were up slightly at 52.3%. The results from the 2005 survey resulted in a score of 52.4%, barely up over 2004.

Ever think that it would be good if people did what they were supposed to, like pay taxes. You didn’t ask for the data, but someone proudly states that he didn’t pay taxes on his last job because he was paid under the table. What do you do? Do you keep this information to yourself? Do you tell someone? Who? For further information read on.

There are people who have been paid by the IRS to inform them of tax criminals. The IRS has a civil and criminal investigation team. This team does want information from all sources, including John Q. Public.

Usually when you hear about doing a search for unclaimed property you think of a person doing this. It is not a very well known fact that school districts, cities and counties also could have unclaimed money.

Jerry Hudlow, Rogers Finance Director checks the state auditor’s unclaimed-property list every year to see if his city is on it.

His review of what’s published as The Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt in newspapers across the state each fall keeps Rogers off a list of 119 cities, school districts, counties and other government entities with $89, 523 in unclaimed money held by the State Auditor Jim Wood’s office.

Maryland State Comptroller, Michael Golden may be earning that name. He is looking to return $75 million to rightful owners. You may find him to be golden when you find your treasure.

A local newspaper has published the annual unclaimed property insert. The insert lists the names of residents with unclaimed bank accounts, stocks, payroll and numerous other unclaimed assets. About $75 million belonging to 116,700 owners still not been handed out.

But with a policy change, coupled with growing popularity of the comptroller’s Web site, the insert scheduled was cut in half. However, the number of people who have not collected their unclaimed money, did not.