(Part 2 of 2)

The total amount of unclaimed money in California averages $5 billion annually – imagine the amount of interest that accrues for the state! Sacramento attorney Bill Palmer who has represented a number of cases involving California unclaimed funds, said the state’s program was created to be a lost and found of sorts for Californians. Instead, it was turned into a profit earning ‘business’ in recent years.

The ban on the taking of property by CA has since been removed and the new CA State Controller, John Chiang, is making greater efforts in the form of sweeping reforms in improving how his office handles CA unclaimed money. There’s still a great need though for Californians and residents of all other states across the U.S. to be informed about the presence of these properties and on how to perform a thorough search for them and take back what belongs to them.

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Illinois Stimulus Checks Still Unclaimed – WIFR

Illinois Stimulus Checks Still Unclaimed WIFR, IL - 13 minutes ago We have until October 15th to file income tax forms to get these checks. Illinois is ranked in the top ten for most unclaimed money.

Illinois Stimulus Checks Still Unclaimed (WIFR Rockford)
For those having a tough time paying electricity bills, in Illinois there’s still 46-million dollars worth of economic stimulus checks yet to be claimed.

Action Line: California is holding $5.1 billion in unclaimed money … – San Jose Mercury News

Action Line: California is holding $5.1 billion in unclaimed money … San Jose Mercury News,  USA - Sep 7, 2008 Typically the money is held by the state controller. California's Unclaimed Property Division offers a free, searchable database that currently holds $5.1 …

Residents Find Unclaimed Money In Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt – KHBS/KHOG 40/29

Residents Find Unclaimed Money In Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt KHBS/KHOG 40/29, AR - Sep 30, 2008 If the state owes me money, thank you,” said Smith. Smith is just one of around 275000 people in the state who has $50 or more in unclaimed cash or property … State Aims to Find Owners of Unclaimed Property KATV $115 million in unclaimed goods wait Arkansas Democrat Gazette all 12 news articles

Minting money from suspense accounts – Merinews

Minting money from suspense accounts Merinews, India - 21 hours ago The same system should be applied for unclaimed funds lying with banks. ICICI Bank indulges in the malpractice of putting account-holders’ money in its …

(Part 1 of 2)

The state of California’s unclaimed property program takes in approximately 300 million dollars annually. Why does it matter to you? Well, if you or anyone you know is or has been a resident of the Golden State (or ever had any type of business dealings, whether you knew it or not), part of that big heap of California lost assets could easily be yours!

Under the California unclaimed funds law, missing money like forgotten checking and savings accounts, uncashed checks and money orders, mineral deposits, salary checks, cash and stock dividends, state of California unclaimed tax refunds, gift certificates, and other financial assets are passed along to the Treasury Dept. if the rightful owners don’t locate them within a given time period. This ‘dormancy period’ varies from state to state, but in California it’s 3 years. These forgotten funds then head to the CA unclaimed property division, where they wait in the state’s general fund until they are returned to the rightful owners. This is where state employees who handled California unclaimed cash were recently criticized. It seems that they were all to happy to locate and collect the lost funds from the various establishments holding on to them but showed less interest in tracking down the owners in the California unclaimed funds list.

One of the primary reasons for the government’s inability to return forgotten money to residents, they say, is that they cannot be located. Problem is, who would think that people like Angelina Jolie, ZsaZsa Gabor, Gerri Halliwell, Victoria Beckham, Keanu Reeves, Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, Marlon Brando and Jennifer Lopez would be hard to locate? Their names and the names of several other famous people are just a few of the names in the California missing money list but they have not been contacted by the employees at the California Unclaimed Money Division. They’re all owed checks for forgotten funds by California ranging in amount from hundreds to the thousands as in the case of Angelina Jolie. This just shows California state employees’ interest in keeping this cash in the general fund for use in balancing the budget deficit for as long as they possibly can. In fact, there was a recent ruling by a federal judge on CA abandoned money, saying that the state was not doing enough to locate the rightful owners and has temporarily halted the state’s s ability to seize it until a new policy of reuniting it with the actual owners was adopted.

(to be continued)

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Stimulus Payments, Lottery Winnings Go Unclaimed (News Channel 5 Nashville)
Extra cash can be hard to come by these days, but thousands of Tennesseans are letting free money slip through their fingers. And the government is having a hard time trying to give money away.

Whole lotto money unclaimed in California – San Diego Union Tribune

Whole lotto money unclaimed in California San Diego Union Tribune, United States - Sep 29, 2008 “For whatever reason, there's a lot of money unclaimed there.” According to his Web site, almost $2 million in prizes will expire in California in the next …

$29 million in unclaimed stimulus checks (NBC 12 Richmond)
RICHMOND, VA (NBC12) – Time is running out for the nearly 100,000 Virginians who have yet to claim their economic stimulus payments. The deadline to file is October 15th.

Residents Find Unclaimed Money In Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt – KHBS/KHOG 40/29

Residents Find Unclaimed Money In Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt KHBS/KHOG 40/29, AR - Sep 30, 2008 If the state owes me money, thank you,” said Smith. Smith is just one of around 275000 people in the state who has $50 or more in unclaimed cash or property … State Aims to Find Owners of Unclaimed Property KATV $115 million in unclaimed goods wait Arkansas Democrat Gazette all 12 news articles