Millions in Unclaimed Property is Held by the States
The current aggregate figure of $40 billion in unclaimed money across the nation will soon be history. The experts and economists are predicting that very soon we will be staring at a $100 billion figure of unclaimed money. This means that almost 90% of all U.S. families have somebody who has failed to reclaim their lost funds or assets. Whether it be a deceased relative, or a family member, unclaimed money exists in every family across the United States.
The unclaimed money pile is continues to grow with every passing year. The relentless influx of funds has created a real nightmarish issue for the authorities which applies to all the states. Most of the states are facing these growing volumes of unclaimed money growth and are reporting huge additions to its unclaimed money vault every month.
The larger states, where the workforce diversity and migrations are extremely high along with state population, are reporting a much higher volume of unclaimed money: California is estimating an unclaimed money volume to the tune of $5.7 billion while New York’s pile of unclaimed money has swelled up to $9.9 billion.
States like California and New York which have a relatively higher figure of unclaimed funds are forced to take different route than finding and returning the unclaimed money to its owners. The governors and the governing body of these states are seriously considering options to utilize the unclaimed funds for state development programs. After numerous attempts and public awareness programs these states have resorted to, the unclaimed money collection rate far exceeds the amount of unclaimed money returns.
It is not only the state treasuries which are disclosing rising piles of unclaimed money but banks and public financial institutions have also been reporting big numbers of unclaimed money balances. Many local banks, especially former bank, Washington Mutual, have been attempting to find old members who have some unclaimed money still in existence.
The federal agencies and higher official of the state treasuries are working in unison to tackle unclosed bank accounts, returned tax refund, unremitted pension funds and other types of personal assets that have no takers. Most states are utilizing public newspapers to list owners of unclaimed property, along with broadcast news stories on popular news stations, and hold state fairs with unclaimed money booths.
New York State has been fairly successfully reuniting the heirs of original property owners who could not be located due to their outreach program, unlike California, and most other states in the U.S.
The outreach program of the state along with the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA), a nonprofit organization affiliated with the National Association of State Treasurers has managed to spread widespread awareness about the state government’s unclaimed funds initiative in New York. The increase in these initiatives in all states will only decrease the amount of unclaimed funds the country is facing, along with make for a happier, wealthier public!
