Washington has laws on dormant accounts.
Under Washington law, funds in any account dormant for three years are forwarded to the state Department of Revenue as unclaimed property.
Does this mean you no longer have this money after three years? Patti Wilson, operations manager of the Department of Revenue’s unclaimed property section, said there’s no need to panic. “They can always get their money, there are no time limits,” she said.
The law, she said, is intended to protect consumers. “People die, people move, they forget about accounts,” Wilson said. “Otherwise, those banks continue to charge fees until there is nothing left.”
If the account is turned over as interest-bearing, the state pays that interest rate for 10 years. But most don’t get the interest. Instead, it goes into the state’s general fund, Wilson said.
Banks in Washington send notices regarding dormant accounts valued at more than $75.
Now the burden of ownership and collection is placed on the consumer. Every state has its own set of unclaimed property laws, its own database of unclaimed money and its own system for holding and claiming funds.
Cash Unclaimed Money Search has simplified this process by collecting information from numerous databases and combining the data into one big searchable database where you can search, find and claim your unclaimed money.
