Connecticut Holding Millions Of Dollars In Unclaimed Money

By Russ D Johnson

Despite returning a record $26.2 million in Connecticut unclaimed money in 2006, there are still tens of millions of dollars in missing money waiting to be located and claimed by the rightful owners - average citizens who simply abandoned or forgot about these assets for one reason or another.

Recent efforts by the Connecticut State Treasurer's "The Big List" program have handed over $110 million back to CT residents in just the last 8 years, but more money continued to come in than went out so the heaps of unclaimed property held by the government continue to grow. Due to the fact that new forgotten funds outpace the return rate, the odds of finding a claim for any given name get better all the time.

A lot of people wonder how unclaimed money could be real because the fact that across the country there are billions of dollars waiting to be discovered by the rightful owners simply boggles the mind. Why would these people abandon their money? Are they crazy? No, they're just normal people, and it has been estimated that 7 out of every 10 Americans are due some type of claim!

So how is all this cash being abandoned without the owners realizing it? In most cases it is as simply as forgetting about a checking or savings account that wasn't a primary account, or not providing a forwarding address to all the necessary people when a person moves. Additionally, the State Treasury's website lists the following as common types of lost money in Connecticut:

"...un-cashed checks; deposits; stocks, bonds or mutual fund shares; travelers' checks or money orders; life insurance policies; and safe deposit box contents..."

As these different types of accounts lay untouched past their dormancy periods (unique for each account type in each state), they are turned over to the state for safe keeping until the owner steps forward to claim them. So if the dormancy period on a given account doesn't run out for another year or two, someone searching today will find now record of their missing money, even though it's out there in pre-escheat, meaning the dormancy period has not expired. Additionally, states have no uniform law dictating when the records are actually added to their system so a person could theoretically search and find nothing, while the record is added the following day, week, month or year. The only way to be thorough about your search is to search regularly.

In addition to limiting themselves to one search, inexperience searchers often search only the state they live in, not knowing that there is the potential for unclaimed funds owed to them in states they've never lived in or even been to, for a variety of reasons such as employers' corporate headquarters or insurance company headquarters.

The issues mentioned above, among others, can be worked around once people become educated on proper search tactics. Seeking the advice and guidance of experienced unclaimed asset finders often makes the difference in whether or not someone with limited knowledge in these matters finds all money owed to them or not.

Unclaimed money and property expert Russ Johnson has been assisting Americans in finding their unclaimed money online since 1997. His site, http://www.unclaimedmoney.net, is updated regularly and offers guaranteed official searches for Connecticut unclaimed money and missing money across the country.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Russ_D_Johnson

Illinois Unclaimed Money Approaches 1.4 Billion Dollars

By Russ D Johnson

In May 2007, Illinois State Treasurer State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias announced that the state's "Cash Dash" program is holding nearly $1.4 Billion in Illinois unclaimed money. The only thing standing between the cash and its rightful owners is the knowledge that it's out there and the ability to track it down.

Sadly in addition to Illinois, state treasury departments across the country continue to take in more unclaimed property each year than they return to the citizens. Because everyone believes in the old "if it's too good to be true" saying most people refuse to believe that there are really tens of billions of dollars waiting to be claimed nationwide. Even for those few who have realized the truth about unclaimed assets, the best way to locate these monies eludes them more often than not.

The Prairie is State is one of those rare states that holds over a billion dollars on its own which means if you're a resident of IL then you have even greater odds of finding a claim in your name, especially when you consider that the state has less than 13 million people and there are over 10 million names on the state's unclaimed funds list.

Although there are many more, Illinois lists the following as the most common types of missing money: abandoned savings and checking accounts, unpaid wages or commissions, stock, bonds, mutual funds, un-cashed dividends, customer deposits or overpayments, credit balances, refunds, money orders, travelers checks, paid-up life insurance policies, safe deposit box. Anyone who has had or knows someone who may have had one of these accounts at one time or another is encouraged to search regularly.

The IL State Treasury has returned more than $432 million since it took over the unclaimed money program in 1999, $84 million of which was returned in 2006 alone, but with $1.4 billion waiting to be claimed and more coming in all the time, the heap of cash will continue to grow.

Because money is constantly added to the fund, it is important to check regularly, not just once. Money owed to you might be added tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or depending on the type of asset in 5 years if that's the proper dormancy period. Each type of property has its own dormancy period in each state, after which state laws require the holder to turn it over to the state who will then hold it until the rightful owner steps forward to claim it.

Additionally, residents of Illinois may be owed unclaimed money in other states even if they've never lived in or even been to them. Things like insurance overpayments when an employer uses an out of state insurance company can result in found money located in other states. Issues often also arise when a corporations headquarters are in another state.

The bottom line is that the state of Illinois is currently home to a massive amount of money that belongs to its residents who simply need to learn the proper ways to search, where to search, and how often to search. Learning these search methods from locators with years of experience in this field can greatly enhance your abilities to find your money.

Unclaimed money and property expert Russ Johnson has been assisting Americans in finding their unclaimed money online since 1997. His site, http://www.unclaimedmoney.net, is updated regularly and offers guaranteed official searches for Illinois unclaimed money and missing money across the country.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Russ_D_Johnson