Free Money Search Unclaimed
We were shocked after reading about many of the facts reported by State and federal agencies holding unclaimed money. Read below about the fallacies often published.
Free Money Search Unclaimed
Fallacy #1: The Government agencies are only custodians holding one's unclaimed money until the owner or an heir claims the money.
Free Money Search Unclaimed
Truth: Recently 2 States Idaho and Indiana recently have passed laws that if the unclaimed money is not claimed within a specific period of time, the unclaimed money becomes the property of the State.
Free Money Search Unclaimed
Fallacy #2: The State online unclaimed databases contain all the unclaimed money they are holding.
Truth: Many States don't list accounts until they are possessed them for 2 years. Other States do not list accounts under a specific amount. New York that purports to have 22 million accounts however it has only has 3+ million records in its online database.
Fallacy #3: Once the asset is abandoned, the holder (Bank, Ins Company etc) make a concerted to locate the Owner.
Truth: During the dormancy period, the holder by law is only required to make 3 attempts to locate the owner. This consists of basically sending a letter to the same address by which a prior correspondence was returned as "not deliverable".
The holder then retains the funds as working capital and only transfers to the State at the last moment required by law.
Fallacy #4: States pay interest on the unclaimed funds and purport one does not have to pay a fee to recover one's money.
Truth: Almost all States have stopped paying interest on unclaimed balances and a few States ie) Ohio charge a 5% administrative fee to process the claim.
In addition, most States will sell unclaimed stocks, bonds or shares of a Mutual fund transferred to them and credit the owner's account with the proceeds thus eliminating any future appreciation and could cause costly tax consequences for the owner.
Fallacy #5: If one is searching for any lost or unclaimed money, they should search only in the State in which they reside.
Truth: If one had lived in another State and/or worked for a Company whose headquarters is located in another State, abandoned money or assets maybe transferred to that State. New York, Connecticut and Illinois are States in which many national Companies have their headquarters.
Fallacy #6: There are few people owed unclaimed money.
Truth: There are millions of people owed unclaimed money. Last estimate reported more than 100 million unclaimed accounts being held by all the States and Federal Gov. agencies.
Since it is unlikely that individuals younger than 25 (40% of the population) would have any unclaimed money, the chances therefore are that 7 out of 10 US citizens over 25 have an unclaimed account.
Fallacy #7: The States are holding one's unclaimed money in a special fund waiting for the owner to claim.
Truth: In almost all cases, the States transfer the unclaimed money to its General Fund or to another Fund. In either case, the money is spent immediately.
All States are cash strapped and these unclaimed monies are effectively additional revenue for the States. Since only 30% of the unclaimed money is ever claimed and the amount of unclaimed money being transferred into to State each year is greater than the amount claimed annually, the States feel comfortable with spending the money ever though they are legally liable for the entire amount.
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