Unclaimed Property Blog

Several states are joining in on an initiative to discover lost funds and it’s about time. If all fifty states put their combined unclaimed funds into a pot, along with the fed and their income tax unclaimed funds initiatives, the amount would easily amount to the billions of dollars – maybe even trillions. With so much money flowing in constantly, it’s a little hard to tell. Now the states are finally doing something about it by starting unclaimed funds initiatives across the country where anyone with an Internet connection can discover lost funds.

Unclaimed Funds Initiatives – It’s About Time

There is still missing money in Georgia and the state’s Treasurers are not happy about it. Just when the team that works in the Treasury office thinks that they might have a handle on the situation, even more Georgia missing money comes flowing in. Think of a fire hose, but instead of water there are checks upon checks flowing out of the business end. You could find missing money in Georgia, but first we have to find out where all those checks come from and who is owed all of that money. That’s the answer the state Treasury wants to find out. If you want to locate missing money in Georgia, listen up. The solution is easier than you might think.

As an American, you are required to file your taxes every year on April 15^th. In most cases, the person filing will receive a refund. This is money that was overpaid to the government throughout the year and now it’s being sent back to you. If you fail to file or you file incorrectly, you may end up losing some of your refund. When you lose a refund, that money doesn’t just go away and it’s certainly not absorbed by the IRS. Instead, all those lost tax refunds end up sitting at the bottom of some account until the rightful owners come forward. This is your chance to find your lost tax refunds and you don’t even have to contact the IRS to do it.

The IRS is urging anyone who didn’t file a tax return in 2009 to file this year, as the federal government is holding onto 917 million expiring tax refunds. $917 million is a lot of money and all of that money could go to the rightful owners, but only if those individuals file by April 15^th of this year.

While most people won’t be holding out hope that they have 917 million in expiring tax refunds, many could be surprised at just how substantial the refunds average out to be. The IRS states that half of those 2009 refunds amount to more than $500. That means that you could have $500 or more coming to you this year, but only if you claim your expiring tax refunds.

Out of all the sources for unclaimed money, abandoned bank accounts have to be the most boggling. How can anyone abandon a bank account? That’s the question most people want the answer to the moment they hear that there are millions if not billions of dollars in unclaimed money from that very source. Regardless of how or why it happens, it certainly does happen and it’s a frequent enough occurrence that most state Treasurers want to put a stop to it. If you suspect that you may have abandoned a bank account somewhere down the line, it’s time for you to finally find out.

Kentucky is sending out an SOS to all current and former residents who may have money in the state’s unclaimed money account. The state’s Treasury and Department of Revenue are having a heck of time managing the state’s missing cash. This Kentucky missing cash is growing to the tune of millions of dollars per year and until something major happens the problem will keep piling up. What’s this major event that Treasurers are waiting for? They’re mostly waiting for the rightful owners of this Kentucky missing cash to step forward to claim the money as their own. Considering that most people have no idea they have missing cash in Kentucky, you can imagine that this problem is much larger than anyone anticipated.

A 401K account is supposed to provide for you during your golden years after retirement. The idea is that you will stay with the same company for the duration of your life. Or that you will continue to at least transfer your 401K as you transfer jobs so that your account never leaves your side and you can keep adding to it over the years. If you do so you will contribute into that same account year after year and it will continue to build until such time as you decide you would finally like to retire. What happens when you change jobs and you either just don’t or actually forget to transfer your 401K account? Well, let’s just say it doesn’t just go away.

The state of Pennsylvania is calling on all its current and previous residents to help in the search for Pennsylvania cash. Even though it sounds like it, this money doesn’t actually belong to the state at all. Instead, it belongs to those current and former residents who may have lost the money years ago. The money can come from abandoned bank accounts, missing tax returns, property from safe deposit boxes that have been liquidated through state auctions and much more. In fact, there are millions of dollars just sitting in a state Treasury vault and it’s up to the men and women of this great state, and the ones who used to live here, to help us search for cash in Pennsylvania. Here’s how to participate.

Before you can sign up for a utility service – water, gas or any other– you typically have to leave a deposit, especially if you don’t have a positive history with any other utility. The idea is that the deposit will cover the utility in case you can’t pay your bill for whatever reason. It’s meant to act in the place of trust. Once you build up enough of a positive history with a utility company, the deposit becomes less or it becomes unnecessary altogether. It’s when you have to deactivate your utility service and the company returns your utility deposits to you that things get tricky.

The great state of Ohio is losing funds at an alarming rate and the state’ Treasurer, Josh Mandel, finally wants to do something about it. The state is beginning to raise awareness that there are millions of dollars in lost funds being funneled into a special Treasury account. This Ohio lost funds account is designed to keep the money safe until the rightful owners come forward. The money won’t go anywhere until those individuals make themselves known, which Mandel hopes will happen in the coming months.

How Ohio Lost Funds Go Missing