Unclaimed Property Blog

You may not think of Virginia as a very large state, but it has a large sum of money to return to it’s residents.

During one attempt to return money, a laptop computer was brought to the lobby of Town Center of Virginia Beach and found about every sixth or seventh person had money unclaimed.

What is this money and where does it come from? There are many sources with the most common being a utility deposit not returned, a forgotten checking or savings account, a security deposit from a rental when you did not give a forwarding address, a final payroll check or even an expense reimbursement and an abandoned safe deposit box. There may be many more ways but as stated, these are the most common.

Nebraska State Treasurer Ron Ross has decided to extend the amnesty program on unclaimed property. This is the second such extension he has implemented.

Ross announced an extension of the proven highly successful 2006 Amnesty Program. This program offers amnesty from penalties and interest to Nebraska businesses that voluntarily report unclaimed property. The Nebraska Restaurant Association and the Nebraska Retail Federation had requested the extension due to their concerns that without an extension LB 173, effective November 2, 2006, would be confusing to their members.

Illinois unclaimed property is increasing. The State Treasurer want to return money to rightful owners. Continue reading and find out how much money Illinois has and how they return it.

When you see unclaimed property you may think it is actual property as in land; therefore, you would not be one of the estimated 5 million people in the state of Illinois with unclaimed property. The actual definition of property when used in unclaimed property is money and material possessions. Still not sure what that comes down to in layman’s terms? Property could be money in an abandoned bank account, the contents of a safe deposit box, uncashed final paycheck, stocks, bonds, or a utility deposit never returned to the rightful owner.

Recently GM offered some employees a $140,000 package to leave their employ. What would you do with such an offer?

This does make one consider options that you may never have dreamt of or seen before. You work with a well known company. You hear that it needs to cut jobs for its own survival. The opportunity to have $140,000 but no job, does this conjure up lots of questions or dreams?

Identity theft seems to be all around. Most Americans look at it as something we just have to deal with. Is this really true?

Upon further investigation it was discovered we needed something to compare our theft situation with. Turning to Europe seemed logical. However, determining the rate of identity theft in Europe was difficult. Per data security experts it isn’t enough of a problem to warrant a comprehensive survey.

Digging into this a little further found there was an exception; the United Kingdom (U.K.).

On Monday, May 15th, Iowa State Treasurer, Michael Fitzgerald announced a record dollar amount of unclaimed property being held by his office. The result was…”We’re overwhelmed,” he said. “Our office is being put through the paces trying to make matches for these folks.”

There is approximately $160 million worth of money and unclaimed property being held. With the tidal wave of calls and more than 11,000 web hits The Great Iowa Treasure hunt is proving to be a success.

This week there were several items returned to their rightful heir. Amongst the items were a variety of valuable sports memorabilia and war medals including a Purple Heart. Items such as these usually come from abandoned safe deposit boxes.

West Virginia is getting tougher. The State Treasurer is actively seeking owners of unclaimed property.

Each state holds unclaimed property. All have different ways to find and return the money to the rightful owner. West Virginia has decided to become more active in giving money away.

Recently, Jack Phillips of Phillips Machine Service was contacted and received $117,000 worth of cash and stock dividends.

Wondering how someone could lose $117,000? The company had some stock and the bank holding the stock certificates could not locate the company. Per state law, the stock is transferred to the state for safe keeping.

Here is something of interest. A municipal bond becomes city property per an escheat ruling. Not anything unusual on the surface; however…

It all began 20 years ago. Two municipal bonds from the City of Los Angeles are purchased. The purchase helped the city raise money for various projects. Two years ago, the city decided one of the bonds was raising too much money for its investors, so it recalled the bond; essentially buying out the investment.

Pull out your telephone bill and take a look near the bottom of the bill. Buried in the bill under the label “access fee” or “federal line charge” is an excise tax you pay to the government each month. Read on to find out more about this fee and the controversy it is causing.

Currently as written or noted on your telephone bills the 3 percent tax on long-distance calls seems like a typical service charge. Further research has found it is actually an outdated war tax that was passed in 1898 to help pay for the Spanish-American war.

There are some things we do others don’t know about and should be left that way. What about your financial records? There may be a need for someone to know how to access your accounts. Time to think this matter over.

The idea of gathering your key personal and financial documents and information into one place may seem disastrous. Then storing this sensitive data on the internet may send shivers up an down your spine. But not having a remote, off-site backup of your important documents is what should really scare you.