Unclaimed Property Blog

It has happened before and here it is again. A State Treasurer advertising unclaimed property in an attempt to get his name and face into public view.

North Carolina State Treasurer Richard Moore is contemplating running for governor. This is not uncommon, we all want to move up in our jobs.

Currently he is using escheat money to pay for television ads to raise awareness of the escheat fund. What is the escheat fund? It is a pool of unclaimed money from abandoned bank accounts, unclaimed utility deposits and other sources.

When you read about people claiming cash you may wonder “How could they lose it?”. This news may add to your concern since we are talking about a baseball team able to claim money the state is holding.

According to the Boston Herald, the Boston Red Sox will be claiming $7,288 in abandoned property that Massachusetts State Treasurer Tim Cahill is holding for the team.

If you ever wondered if it was too good to be true…

Are you a mystery shopper wanna be? There are many enticing advertisements and internet sites to choose from, but which do you respond to? Which ones are the real thing?

Here are some tips:

Most mystery shopping firms give applicants a test. The test can be for basic things like spelling and grammar, but also more subtle things like observational skills and the ability to duplicate an order.

Companies want detail-oriented people who can follow explicit instructions. They need people who are observant and can collect the data the companies have requested.

Who wins in this situation? The consumer or “the system”? Getting credit is very easy today and many take advantage of the endless offers only to end up in a bankruptcy situation. Now laws on bankruptcy have changed and are more difficult for the consumer.

Often laws and regulations are implemented to address a situation that only the minority of people are involved in and does not take into account what the majority of consumers are actually doing. Then the law penalizes the majority for the minority’s errors or stupidity.

Here is a question regarding such a situation which was posed to the Bankruptcy Advisor at Bankrate.com

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.

Throughout the United States there is money to be given away by the IRS. Yes, you read that right, the IRS is giving away money. Actually it is trying to return money to people that have not received their tax refund. IRS refund checks go unclaimed for many reasons. Sometimes, as in the case of hurricane victims, people face a significant change in their normal lives.

Nationally, there are 84,290 taxpayers with undeliverable refunds, totaling approximately $73 million with an average refund of $871. Here is a breakdown for some states:

If you have ever felt like there was too much hassle to getting a rebate, you may be correct. Read on for how this could be the case.

Brian Grow, author of “The Great Rebate Runaround,” found in his research that companies are not eager to give out rebate checks and have many ways to keep them from you. It is not uncommon to ask consumers to send in copies of their sales receipt multiple times or to hold on to the rebate check for several months, hoping you will never bother to follow up on it.

Former welfare mother, Cassandra Garrison, went from a longtime renter to homeowner in 2003 because of a $3,000 check from the federal government and good advice from a friend: Buy a home.

Now Garrison, a single mother, is a homeowner and a landlord in Southeast Portland’s Lents neighborhood.

“I never, ever, never thought I’d be able to do that,” says Garrison, public policy director for the Oregon Food Bank. “We struggled for so long.”

In her case, the federal government’s Earned Income Tax Credit, which was created during the Reagan administration, did what it intended. It helped push her out of the hand-to-mouth poverty cycle.

Like many other cities and states, Philadelphia, PA is trying to locate owners of unclaimed property and funds to return the unclaimed money to the correct owners.

“Right now we have, in the five county region meaning, Philadelphia and the four suburban counties, Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and Delaware, as much as, more than, 308-million dollars,â€? said PA State Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr.

Why does this unclaimed money and property end up with the state? The law requires it. After a certain amount of time, dormant bank accounts, uncashed paychecks, insurance payouts, you name it, must be handed over.

About $920,000 in tax refunds are due to residents in Utah. It is the goal of IRS Comminssioner Mark W. Everson to get this money back into the hands of the people it belongs to.

According to information provided by the IRS, refunds can go astray for a number of reasons, but they usually are lost when a taxpayer moves or changes address and doesn’t notify the IRS or the U.S. Postal Service. Utah taxpayers who have moved since filing their last tax return are those that should look into this free money give-a-way.