Unclaimed Property: Fact or Myth?

A few years back, even the most aware and educated U.S. residents would have found it hard to believe that there are unclaimed properties against their name that can be claimed back. It has been established that unclaimed money in America has now touched almost all of the American households. As of last estimate, almost 8 out of 9 American families had some form of unclaimed property waiting to be claimed. In most of the American extended family, there is at least one person who has not staked a claim to his rightfully earned money.

It has become a national headline and a financial crisis of unmanageable proportions, and very rightly the Federal and State agencies have realized that the U.S. unclaimed or lost money is becoming a major issue at all levels of governance. The unclaimed databases are swelling with unclaimed money as new and lost money is being added at a much faster rate. While larger states like California and New York have a combined unclaimed money vault of almost $16 billion, even the much smaller and remote states have been reporting unclaimed funds additions to their treasuries at a furious pace.

It is not only the state treasuries and the government agencies that are reporting a rapid influx of unclaimed funds. Many of the major banks are disclosing that the volume of unclaimed bank balances have been growing at a rapid pace. In a recent Press Release, about half a million dollars in unclaimed money from former Washington Mutual Bank customers in Wisconsin is waiting to be claimed. These unclaimed properties are recorded with great accuracy, which helps in dispelling any myths about the unclaimed property facts in the U.S.

The state of Wisconsin alone has almost 8300 accounts which have unclaimed balances, with the largest unclaimed account having a value of $58,000. As a sign of this growing problem of unclaimed property (when the American people are in real need of money), Oprah Winfrey distributed unclaimed money on her show, realizing that 8 out of 9 families in the U.S. are still the owners of some lost funds somewhere. The government has begun to take special measures to unite the funds owed to armed forces and citizens on duty with the heirs and dear ones.

A few examples of unclaimed property across the nation will help establish the facts about the unclaimed property.

• Ohio: Almost 1,188 unclaimed funds accounts, worth more than $617,260 were reported from the Hancock County itself. The advertised accounts, each valued at $50 or more were turned over within the past year for individuals whose last known address was in Hancock County. At regular intervals, the state of Ohio publishes the list for unclaimed funds through widely circulated dailies in each county.



• Maryland: A 144-page insert into Maryland’s Frederick News-Post was published by the Comptroller’s office, which officially reported almost 60,000 identified owners of unclaimed cash worth more than $42 million.



• Colorado: Almost millions of state residents were mentioned in the payback list in Saturday’s newspapers in the state of Colorado. This list helps in broadcasting the names of the real owners of unclaimed properties in the state of Colorado. These payback lists involve more than $50 million of unclaimed funds. Once a reader finds their name in this payback list, they can contact the state treasury for further guidance.



• Connecticut: The newspapers in the state of Connecticut published the names of almost 35,000 unidentified owners of unclaimed properties. This had a great impact and resulted in uniting many of the rightful owners with their missing money.



• Texas: Texas Comptroller’s office recently launched a print media based awareness program for reaching the remotest corners of Texas. This awareness campaign is a result of billions of unclaimed properties lying in the state treasury. Presently, Texas is publishing almost six regional unclaimed property list in the newspapers, instead of one combined list. This enables a larger circulation of lists in all the areas of Texas.