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How Not Claiming Unclaimed Funds Hurts The Economy

October 9th, 2012 | Shann

It seems that California is trying everything it can to help fix its economy, but now it has yet another problem to contend with. Unclaimed funds are pouring in to State Treasury coffers at alarming rates and there is no sign of it slowing down. Until Californians start claiming these unclaimed funds as their own, we may see a crisis the likes the state has never seen. Not only are these funds just sitting there not currently helping anyone but it is costing the state even more money to track all of these unclaimed funds as well as maintain them.

 

The Looming Unclaimed Funds Crisis

Are you one of the millions of people wondering where all of this money is coming from? The money that is coming in has various sources. Some of the sources like these include final paychecks that have not ever been cashed or even bank accounts that were abandoned, lost or forgotten about all together. More situations that lead to these types of unclaimed funds are from things like insurance claims that were never cashed in on or cashed out and even court settlements from refinancing or new homes purchases that have been held in escrow. These are just a fraction of the types of sources that lead to money going missing, being forgotten about or simply being left unclaimed.

This is why the fact that there are so many sources for the unclaimed funds makes tracking the problem and fixing it rather difficult. The problem is exacerbated by the fact most Californians do not even know that claiming unclaimed funds is a possibility or that any money is out there waiting for them at all. Most people who have money coming to them don’t even know it and most who find unclaimed funds think they’re getting much less than they actually claim. So you can see there are lots of factors that come into play when searching for, finding and claiming these types of funds is concerned.

The main heart of the problem is communication, or the break down in communication anyway. California state needs to begin a state-wide initiative so that all Californians know about this growing unclaimed funds problem. The next largest problem that comes into play is that the state of California may not even have enough money to begin a campaign or issue any public service announcements. So maybe the best way to start tackling these two main problems is to start a word of mouth campaign or even one online to finally get the word out.

The more people who discover this process of finding, tracking down and claiming unclaimed funds, the more all of us can help California’s economy recover. As a resident of California, even if you do not live in this state currently, you should conduct a search for unclaimed funds anyways simply by using your first and last name online.

You never know how much you might find. With millions if not billions of dollars being held in state unclaimed funds accounts, and more and more pouring in every single day, we need to do something fast before the economy gets to a point where it might not easily recover. So all of us need to spread the word for everyone to search for unclaimed funds en masse using their first and last names so that every one can begin the process of claiming unclaimed funds to help the State’s economy as well as each other.

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$350 Million Of Unclaimed Property In Oklahoma Is Being Brought To The State Fair By Ken Miller

September 11th, 2012 | Shann

If you haven’t heard of Ken Miller and you ever were or are currently an Oklahoma resident then this is a name you don’t want to forget. Ken Miller is the current Oklahoma State Treasurer and is keeping a tradition that started 12 years ago at the state fair. Oklahoma’s state treasury decided to put together and host a booth at their local state fairs in order to try and alert Oklahoma residents of over 5 million dollars in unclaimed property and money. Oklahoma took the initiative to start running these booths over a decade ago to try and counteract their continuously growing unclaimed property issue with their “Pot of Gold” booth.

 

With Oklahoma’s State Fair starting this Thursday, September 13th, 2012, Ken Miller has decided to keep this tradition running by not only hosting a booth this year but by bringing a list of over 600,000 Oklahoma residents that are owed unclaimed money and property. Over the last 12 years the “Pot of Gold” booth has helped over 11,000 individuals claim and receive over 5 million bucks in Oklahoma unclaimed property and money. This has proven to be a huge accomplishment felt not only by Oklahoma state residents and the State Treasury but also by Ken Miller himself, stating, “”Oklahoma’s economy would get a big shot in the arm if we were able to reunite 600,000 state residents with $350 million. If you go to the fair this year, you need to stop by our booth to see if we have any of your money. Remember, too, that our service is free.”

 

Ken Miller realizes that by placing these unclaimed funds with the original owners he will not only help solve Oklahoma’s unclaimed property and money problem but in turn it will help give their economy a little boost. State fairs across the country have been hosting booths at their own fairs as well but with 570 Oklahoma residents claiming back almost $400,000 you can clearly see that the Oklahoma State Treasury’s efforts are really “paying” off.

 

People are always surprised when they find out they are entitled to unclaimed property and money. Most of them don’t even realize why they are owed these funds in the first place. It is actually very interesting how many people leave behind old bank accounts or forget about things like security or utility deposits from their last rental. Sometimes individuals even forget they have taxes due to them or might have money coming back to them from an escrow account on their new home. Other things may occur that will lead to unclaimed property and money like changing life insurance or even auto insurance policies. With so many reasons unclaimed property and money exists it seems strange that more people are not aware of all the different ways to track down and claim the money that is rightfully theirs.

 

The best part about learning how to find unclaimed property and money is that you don’t have to wait around for your annual state fair to host their own “Pot of Gold” type booth. You can simply check out a site like www.FindUnclaimedMoney.com and use their free search engine to cross reference state treasury databases across the country and see if any unclaimed property and money is due to you today.

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