Thanks to Dateline.MSNBC and the hugely popular show ‘You Might Be Rich‘, more and more people are discovering the realities of missing money in their state. Billions of dollars actually sitting idle waitng for Americans in all states, including Minnesota, to come claim and see if you really might be rich.
When Tiki Barber gave back one claim of over a million dollars, you can be many MN residents ran to their computer to search online for money owed to them.
The following is an interesting article on unclaimed property written bu unclaimed money expert Russ Johnson from ShowMeMyMoney.com
Minnesota Unclaimed Money Totals More Than $300 Million
By Russ D Johnson
Of the tens of billions of dollars in unclaimed assets across the country, the North Star State is home to more than $300 million. MN is known for freezing cold winters, but most people don’t know about the mountains of cold hard cash in the form of Minnesota unclaimed money. The best part about all of these millions is that they belong to regular citizens across the state who only need to track them down and claim them.
It’s easy to dismiss unclaimed property as a myth because it is difficult for most of us to believe that our neighbors (and ourselves) simply abandoned significant amounts of money throughout our lives and that it’s all just sitting out there under our noses, waiting to be discovered. A quick call to Minnesota’s Department of Commerce, or the State Treasury Department in any other state will put your scam concerns at ease. This money is within reach for those citizens with a little education on the matter.
The reason unclaimed funds totals have grown so greatly across the country is because most people don’t even know this cash exists, and those that do still haven’t been properly trained to search for these monies. There are a number of obstacles that stand in the way of beginners who are trying to find their lost money that are easy to overcome if people know what they’re doing.
One of the biggest mistakes people make when searching for forgotten funds, is searching their name at whatever website they first run across and ending their search there. For starters, very few unclaimed cash websites have reliable databases, and even when looking at data straight from the state, the information is only as good as the people updating the records. These assets are turned over to the state constantly, but that doesn’t mean each record is added the second the state takes control of it.
If a Minnesota resident searches for MN missing money on Monday, but someone at the Commerce Department didn’t update their system with that resident’s record, then the resident would be incorrectly told they weren’t owed money. Now, consider the fact that money can be turned over all year, and that many account types aren’t required to be turned over to the state for 3 to 5 years, and longer in some cases. What this tells us is that searching more than once, frequently in fact, is one of the most important tactics a searcher can use, and one that all professional finders use regularly.
There are also a variety of reasons why Minnesota residents might be owed money by other states, and residents of other states might be owed MN unclaimed money. These often have to do with the location of insurance companies and corporate headquarters of employers. For these reasons, people should never limit their searches to their home state or they could miss out on significant chunks of cash with their names on it.
For further details on these tips and many more, people who are truly interested in locating all possible money owed to them should educate themselves on how to perform a thorough search and copy the tricks used by experts in the unclaimed property game.
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 Minnesota unclaimed money and missing money across the country.
Donald Trump is going to be on Dateline NBC this weekend for another episode in a week of “You Might Be Rich”.
More and more Americans are finally becoming aware of Missing Money just waiting for them to claim.
It is amazing how many people still believe unclaimed money is a scam. I guess it is understandable with all the hooplah going on on the Internet these days. It’s truly a shame how much bad information regarding missing money is available on the net. Friom YouTube to misinformed bloggers, to scam unclaimed money websites, unclaimed money has truly gotten a bad rap.
Truth be told, you have to be very careful where you search, as some websites are more apt to mislead, and others outright scamming you! Even the website which all the news organizations claim is the site you should be searching does not include all possible claims available as ststed in their very own FAQ.
What’s the point in searching if you are not going to find every possible claim? Isn’t our time more valuable than this? Is the government intentionally trying to pull the wool over our eyes by leading us to this site?
To ensure you are not getting scammed, finding all possible claims in your name and searching ONLY the official states databases:
Helping to put the issue to rest, at least a little, Donald Trump will be assisting and returning missing money on the next Episode of You Might Be Rich airing this Sunday at 7pm for a 2 hour feature on Dateline NBC.
For the May 3 program, “You Might Be Rich!” will be live from outside Rockefeller Center. Donald Trump will join Tiki to surprise one unsuspecting family with the incredible news they have unclaimed money coming to them. source
Washington State Owes Its Citizens Over $700 Million Dollars and the only way to find out if any of this missing money is due to you is to search.
Washington Unclaimed & Missing Money
It is important for you to not only search for unclaimed money in Washington, but also search for missing money in any state in which you have ever lived or worked.
Who knows, as they showed on Dateline NBC with Tiki Barber, and as well as The Today Show and Oprah, “You Might Be Rich“!
Washington State Owes Its Citizens Over $700 Million Dollars
By Russ D Johnson
The state of Washington is home to some of the world wide web’s major players. Even Bill Gates, the United States’ richest man, hails from Medina, WA and his company, Microsoft, is based in Redmond. Amazon.com, Classmates.com, Whitepages.com and Marchex also call Washington their home. The fact then, that over 1.5 million residents are owed an excess of $700 million unclaimed money in Washington State is ironic, sense searching for unclaimed money and property can be done online from the comfort of their bedroom or the local Starbucks.
According to the Washington State Department Of Revenue website, typical unclaimed property includes abandoned bank accounts, insurance proceeds, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, safe deposit box contents, utility and phone company deposits, uncashed payroll, insurance, and traveler’s checks, and other financial assets. Unclaimed property doesn’t include most tangible assets like real estate and vehicles. State Law requires banks, insurance companies, retailers, credit unions, utilities, corporations, and government entities to turn Washington unclaimed money and property over to the state if their owners can’t be located after 3-5 years (depending on the item).
The State’s Unclaimed Property Law states: “State law protects unclaimed property until it can be returned. There is no time limit for filing a claim and rightful owners or their heirs can claim property reported since 1955. The state may auction the content of safe deposit boxes, however, if not claimed within five years.”
Washington was the first state to have a streamlined system for claiming lost money and property. In fact, the Washington State Department of Revenue recently won the Award for Outstanding Management and Organizational Initiative for its ‘Unclaimed Property E-Claim System’. The amount waiting to be reunited with their owners is still in excess of half a billion dollars however, despite the unclaimed property program being administered to reach out to more owners of Washington unclaimed money and that makes claiming easier for them.
The problem may lie in more than one factor- the fast-paced lifestyle we live in today, the notion people have that piles of paperwork are involved when dealing with the government, and plain disbelief. The more people jump from job to job, changing addresses, or from spouse to spouse (changing last names), the more likely they are to lose track of their financial assets like tax refunds from the IRS or inheritances from a relative that had passed-away. Even those that are aware of the possibility that they might have unclaimed money in Washington and other states might not bother doing a search at all thinking it’s not worth the hassle.
The Unclaimed Funds Division collects over $55 million in lost or abandoned assets annually in Washington State and that amount snowballs with each passing year. Study up on all the different ways to search, how often to search, and wear to search and get started tracking down money you could have coming today! Who knows? For a change, the government may owe you money this time instead of the other way around.
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 Washington unclaimed money and missing money across the country.
This post is especially for Texans who are missing money and have not claimed it. Otherwise known as “unclaimed money”.
Hundreds of thousands of Texans are sitting on a stock pile of missing money and do not even know it.
Texas Unclaimed Money
If you saw the Dateline feature ‘You Might Be Rich’ recently, you are likely aware that unclaimed money and property is very real. I am still amzed at how many poeple still believe missing money is a scam, but as testament to the feature on TV and my experience in this business since 1996, I can assure all skeptics, Texas unclaimed money is there and just waiting for you to come claim it.
Unclaimed Money In Texas - Lost Cash And Property Up For Grabs For 200,000 Texans
By Russ D Johnson
They say everything comes big in the Lone Star State- the longhorned bovines, cowboy boots, prairies, steaks, cars, and piles of money. Texas unclaimed money that is. Texas comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn has almost $2 billion dollars of unclaimed cash to give-away to her state’s residents. Well, it’s not so much giving-away as giving-back since the lost cash was already theirs to begin with. Funny thing is most of the 200,000 people owed Texas unclaimed properties don’t even know they have money coming to them.
People tend to forget to collect salary or insurance checks when they get new jobs or move to a new house. They also forget to leave behind forwarding addresses when they move and this is one of the main causes for lost checks. When business and financial establishments can’t find the owners of these lost financial assets for 5 years (in Texas), they are turned over to the state as dictated by Texas Unclaimed Property Law which follows the country’s escheat laws. The unclaimed funds stay with Texas state Comptroller’s office until their owners come to claim them.
Unclaimed property in Texas covers anything from forgotten bank accounts, savings accounts, stock and cash dividends, uncollected insurance benefits and money orders to gift certificates, un-cashed checks and contents of safety deposit boxes which have been considered abandoned by their owners. The latter is the only example of tangible assets under the Texas Unclaimed Property Law and these are auctioned-off in dBay after 2 years of being turned-over to the State Comptroller’s office. So if you’re looking for family heirlooms or antiques that your Texan relatives may have lost over the years, it’s best to go check-out eBay.
George Tamayo, manager of the unclaimed funds division in Texas says “From our experience, we determined we were getting the most bang for our buck on eBay.” to which he adds “It’s more cost-effective, because we are able to do the auctions ourselves.” His state was one of the first to make use of the internet auction site early in 2002, switching from the traditional method of disposing of the abandoned property through live auctions. According to Jackie Schroeter, safe deposit box manager for Texas, posting on eBay saves her office time and effort. With the live auctions, the Unclaimed Property office would have to shut down to coordinate them due to lack in manpower. It just takes a few clicks with a computer mouse now.
The proceeds from these auctions go back to the Texas unclaimed property fund where they still can be claimed by their rightful owners at any time. “The Unclaimed Property List contains the names of Texans with property valued at $100 or more that was reported to the state within the last year.”, says Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn who also announced in a recent report, “Since I took office, I have returned more than $532 million in unclaimed property to its original owners,”
This is good news indeed for residents of the Lone Star State, but don’t think the Comptroller is going to come to your front door and deliver your lost funds to you. Unless you have no immediate need for extra bucks in your pocket, you should search for unclaimed money in Texas or other states now!
Unclaimed money and property expert Russ Johnson has been assisting Americans in finding their unclaimed money online since 1997. His site is http://www.unclaimedmoney.net which is updated regularly and offers guaranteed official searches for Texas unclaimed money and missing money across the country.
I am extremely excited to see the new episode on Dateline NBC to air This Sunday April 27th at 7PM EST.
In this episode, Tiki gives $237,000 to one lady from New Orleans. That’s not a typo! Two hundred and thirty seven dollars!
If you have heard of missing money before, but have remained skeptical, be sure to catch the second in a series of shows as they set out on a mission to reunite owners of unclaimed money with cash they didn’t know they owned.
Uncashed checks, old bank accounts, unclaimed deposit boxes and more are added to the unclaimed property fund each year. The mistake is even those who are aware this money exists only search once or search the wrong sites. With the many unclaimed money websites which have sprung up online in the last few years, there is good reason to be wary of where you search. If you are not careful, you could wind up at a site out to take your money rather than help you find it.
For all 50 states official missing money websites, addresses and phone numbers, see ShowMeMyMoney.com
You Might Be Rich, but you’ll NEVER know unless you search!
Imagine, minutes from right now, while sitting at your computer, you could discover you or someone you know if due funds. There is nothing quite like it and I can assure you, no one minds getting a call at any time of the day when they learn missing money is coming to them. Plus, you’ll get a nice dinner or possibly a free vacation out of it too.
Is MissingMoney.com The Best Missing Money Search Site?
There are dozens of MissingMoney websites on the Internet and unfortunately, the press has also latched onto MissingMoney.com as the authority on finding missing money in your state.
To ensure you are searching the official missing money sites for all 50 states, including websites, phone numbers and addresses, see ShowMeMyMoney.com
The bad news is, MissingMoney.com does not have all possible claims listed in their database, nor do they list all states. Hidden in their FAQ, which oddly is not found on their home at the time of this writing, they clearly state they do not lost all claims. It reads: “Some states (in this database of records) do not list all of the records in their custody. For example, some states do not list records under a certain dollar amount. Other states only list the most recent property items in their custody, while yet others list only older records. However, we still receive thousands of new listings each month from the participating states.”
The point is, why bother searching any missing money website if you are not going to conduct a thorough search. You could be leaving tens of thousands on the table by using the wrong resource. In order to conduct a thorough missing money search, you must search or call the official office holding your missing money.
Yes, you might be rich, but you may never know unless you know what the heck you are doing.
To ensure you are searching the official missing money sites for all 50 states, including websites, phone numbers and addresses, see ShowMeMyMoney.com
Finding unclaimed or missing money in Pennsylvania does not have to be rocket science though many sites are misleading and are not telling American citizens the whole truth about where to search for money owed to them. To search the state of Pennsylvania for your unclaimed money, funds and property, and to ensure you are searching the correct site, visit this link to find Pennsylvania Unclaimed Money.
For the facts on missing money in Pennsylvania, read this article by unclaimed money expert Russ Johnson:
Pennsylvania Unclaimed Money - $1 Billion For The Taking!
Philly cheese steaks, chocolates, soft pretzels and TastyKakes aren’t the only
nice things you can find in Pennsylvania. There’s also the Liberty Bell, Christmas
trees (Indiana County is the Christmas Tree capital of the world), steel of
course, and…..nice piles of cold hard cash. Well, cash from Pennsylvania
unclaimed money that is. That’s right- around $1 billion in unclaimed money is
with the Pennsylvania State Treasurer’s office and it’s just waiting to be claimed
by its rightful owners.
Owners of PA unclaimed properties are residents (or former residents) of the
state who may have either forgotten about or lost track of their financial assets
by changing addresses and jobs. People sometimes forget to leave behind a
forwarding address when they move and this ultimately results in undelivered
mail which may contain tax refund checks and the like. Escheat laws dictate that
lost financial assets be turned over in the care of the state after a certain number
of years wherein they go unclaimed.
According to the Pennsylvania State Treasurer’s Office, “Each year, Treasury
receives millions of dollars in unclaimed property from abandoned bank
accounts, forgotten stocks, checks that have not been cashed, certificates
of deposit, life insurance policies, safe deposit boxes, and other sources.
Treasury maintains custody of this unclaimed property, holding assets
indefinitely, until it is returned to its rightful owners. ” Lost assets can also
come from expired gift certificates, money orders, traveler’s checks, safe-
deposit box contents, and uncollected or unpaid salaries and wages. In fact,
$157,290 of the latter was reported to have been owed by the H.J. Heinz
company recently and failed to report this to the State. Under the Pennsylvania
Unclaimed Property Law, unpaid payroll checks held by businesses have to be
remitted to the State Treasurer’s office every two years and every 5 years for
unclaimed assets like uncashed company checks and stock shares abandoned
by shareholders. State Treasurer Robert Casey said in a statement, “By law,
all businesses, financial institutions and legal entities must report and
return all unclaimed property to the Commonwealth.”
The Pennsylvania Unclaimed Property Division and the Treasurer tries to inform
owners of unclaimed money in Pennsylvania through letters, state-run unclaimed
money databases, and advertising campaigns. “Annual advertising and letter
campaigns are just some of the methods Treasury employs to seek the
owners of over $1 billion in unclaimed property. Treasury sends
representatives to statewide public events year-round, including malls,
consumer expos and fairs. Treasury also works with members of the
General Assembly in helping determine if their constituents have
unclaimed property. ” This in a statement from the Office of the Treasurer of
Pennsylvania.
Considering the massive size of the Pennsylvania unclaimed money pile though,
it’s clear that the state’s efforts are inadequate for the sheer numbers (tens of
thousands) of citizens owed unclaimed funds annually. If you think you or a
relative might have unclaimed money with Pennsylvania or other states, now
would be the best time to get some lost money back in your pockets. Do an
unclaimed money search now!
Unclaimed money and property expert Russ Johnson has been assisting Americans in finding their unclaimed money online since 1997. His site is http://www.unclaimedmoney.net which is updated regularly and offers guaranteed official searches for Pennsylvania unclaimed money and missing money across the country.
Tennessee missing money has really grown in the past few years and here is your chance to claim your share of the money you did know you had. The big news is you can also make claims from missing money due to deceased relatives if you are the next rightful heir. Read this article closely and make your claim today.
Tennessee Unclaimed Money Grows by Tens of Millions of Dollars Annually
By Russ D Johnson
Most people know Tennessee for its country music and world famous barbeque, but the state is also home to a lesser-known treasure - unclaimed property. In fact the TN Treasury Department adds tens of millions of dollars in Tennessee Unclaimed Money to its rolls each year, and only a fraction of it is ever reunited with the rightful owners. In turn, this pile of cash grows larger and large by the year.
The TN Treasury department took in about $40 million in unclaimed property in 2006 alone, and only returned $20 million to the rightful owners. This means that another $20 million was added to the already swollen pile of cash that remains unclaimed. This trend of returning only a fraction of what the state takes in is consistent across the country because of a lack of education about these funds. The truth is, most citizens are simply unaware of the tens of billions out there waiting to be claimed.
States do things like annually publishing names in local newspapers of the people who are owed money and setting up tables at county fairs to promote awareness, but the message still only reaches a tiny fraction of the population. Even among those who are aware of the potential to find these lost assets, very few know where to begin their search. Many fall in to the trap of believing that any old missing money site will do, while others don’t understand that they need to search more than once. There are quite a number of issues that searchers just starting out run in to, but those are the most common.
People often search the wrong lost money sites because they’re under the impression that any site that let’s them put their name in to a search box will do. This couldn’t be more wrong. For starters, there are very few sites that actually have the official state listings, and even those are notoriously inaccurate because they aren’t updated in real time. There are dozens of types of unclaimed funds, but according to the State Treasurer’s office, Tennessee’s most common are bank accounts, stock certificates, checks, unclaimed wages, refunds, gift certificates. Each type has it’s own “dormancy period”, which is the time that must pass before the holder is required to hand the monies over to the state to hold for the owners. Because of this a search may not return any claims simply because the fund won’t be turned over until the following month or year, or even for a number of years. This is why people must search frequently to be certain they’ve exhausted all avenues.
In addition to the issues mentioned above, beginners will run in to quite a number of stumbling blocks that will frustrate them in their searches. The only way for Tennessee residents to know that they’re performed thorough searches is to educate themselves before they get started. The best way to do this is to mimic what others are doing. Why go the trial and error route when they can learn from experienced searchers and duplicate their techniques?
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 Tennessee unclaimed money and missing money across the country.
Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Georgia Unclaimed Money
Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Georgia Unclaimed Money
By Russ D Johnson
A recent report by the Chattanooga Times announced that millions of dollars in Georgia lottery winnings go unclaimed in Georgia and Tennessee. Lottery officials say this is mostly due to people that buy lottery tickets while passing-through and either forget to check if they’ve won or not.
According to another news report though, a larger amount of Georgia unclaimed money is in the hands of the state’s Treasury Department. Hundreds of millions of dollars in forgotten funds are held by the state government and most Georgians are unaware of its existence. Catherine Westbrook, an elderly resident of the state was very aware though and became frustrated when she tried getting a $1200 check from an old life-insurance policy. “When I didn’t get it for two or three weeks, then I called and they would say, ‘No, the check wasn’t written, hasn’t been written’ — that’s all they would tell me.” said Westbrook who adds after getting the check 5 months after: “I don’t know why they take so long to write a check.”
Georgia’s Unclaimed Property Law or escheat law which originates from feudal laws in England require abandoned and forgotten assets such as bank accounts, income tax refunds, uncashed checks, uncollected wages, insurance premium overpayments, gift certificates, cash dividends on stocks and mineral deposits, and others to be turned-over to the hands of the state after a specified ‘dormancy period’. This period for Georgia is 5 years and less for other financial assets. “Dormant funds are remitted to the State of Georgia. Demand deposit accounts are deemed to be dormant after 12 months and time and savings accounts are deemed to be dormant after a period of five years without activity”, according to an official statement from Georgia’s State Treasury. In a press release from the Georgia Department of Revenue’s Unclaimed Property Unit, “The time that must elapse for property to be determined “abandoned” and turned over to the state varies depending on the type of property. For example, unclaimed wages and company liquidation proceeds must be turned over to the state after one year. The vast majority of unclaimed property must be turned over to the state five years after the last contact with the rightful owner. Time frames for other types of property are: safe deposit box contents must be forwarded to the state two years after the box was opened by the holding financial institution; money orders seven years after the issue date; and traveler’s checks 15 years from the issue date.”
The Georgia Revenue Commissioner has since tried to make some improvements with regards to the state department that handles missing money in Georgia, like replacing an old automated call center system with operators who can check the status of claims immediately. According to Tim Shields, a manager with the revenue department, “From the time the claim form comes in the door, if we have everything we need, within 8 to 10 weeks, that person’s going to receive a check,”.
Greg Daugherty, Executive Editor of Consumer Reports, said “When I entered my own information, I didn’t find anything belonging to me, but I did find some money belonging to a great aunt of mine who has since died, and would have left it to me.” Greg isn’t alone, which is why enlisting the help of an unclaimed money expert is of the utmost importance.
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 Georgia unclaimed money and missing money across the country.
This is a great article on Florida Unclaimed Money from missing money expert Russ Johnson as published on an article website related to unclaimed money and property:
Florida Unclaimed Money Totals Over $1 Billion
By Russ D Johnson
Have you ever loaned money to a friend, and because they were a friend, you didn’t press them to pay your cash back quickly? Then, as time went on, did you forget all about the money? Well, maybe you haven’t, but millions of Floridians do every year, only their “friends” are companies holding dormant bank accounts, uncashed payroll checks, stocks, dividends, just to name a few.
After the companies lose contact with people associated with these accounts, they turn over these funds to the state Department of Financial Services, and the funds, totally hundreds of millions each year, become what is known as unclaimed money or unclaimed property. The state never actually “owns” Florida unclaimed money, but they are obligated to hold it until the rightful owner steps forward to claim it.
The task of turning that missing money in to found money is easy if you know what you’re doing. Many people make the mistake of simply performing a onetime search at some third party side that made false claims about its unclaimed property database. Others only search Florida’s unclaimed funds records. On top of that, one of the biggest mistakes people make time and time again, is only searching once.
Searching only once doesn’t take in to account that in accordance with varying dormancy periods on forgotten money, these assets are turned over at different times. Meaning that if you search for unclaimed money in Florida only today, but your funds haven’t been turned over to the state until tomorrow (or next week, month, or year), you’d never find it. For this reason (among others), searchers should steer clear of sites that charge “per search”.
Many people hunting for FL unclaimed funds simply don’t realize that their money might be in the hands of government offices in other states. What if your insurance companies or corporate headquarters of a former employer were in other states? When the dormancy periods end, your unclaimed gov money will be turned over to those states, so searching Florida missing money records would be pointless.
Although Florida’s $1 billion is a lot, searching the records of other states frequently is particularly important in The Sunshine State, because the state houses so many transplants. It’s no secret that Florida is the place to be if you’re a retiree, but most didn’t live there for their entire lives.
Despite the fact that Florida does you the courtesy of not putting any time limits on claiming your funds, most people would obviously prefer to have their money sooner rather than later. Additionally, if the cash belonged to a passed relative, the process of proving you’re the rightful heir can take a bit more effort than claiming your own lost money, so it’s important to get started ASAP.
Most people think it’s not possible for them to have ever abandoned or forgotten money, but you’d be surprised. The reality is that the majority of people are owed some type of unclaimed money, so everyone owes it to themselves to search.
Unclaimed money and property expert Russ Johnson has been assisting Americans in finding their unclaimed money online since 1997. His site is http://www.unclaimedmoney.net which is updated regularly and offers guaranteed official searches for Florida unclaimed money and missing money across the country.
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