Wachovia Bank

I have a neighbor who is recently employed with Wachovia Bank. He was closely watching the developments regarding what was going to happen to his current employer. I decided that I would take a look to see if there were any unclaimed funds in the name of Wachovia and there surely was. I checked the state of New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and North Carolina and found a combined 378 claims. They were for various branches and for different departments but they were all related to Wachovia so I emailed my neighbor and a short while later he called me. I told him that it was my opinion that someone in their headquarters should be notified and take position of point person in the collection and redistribution of the funds. My neighbor concurred and since he knew someone in the home office he was going to try and make contact and see how this issue should be elevated.

I know that Citigroup will be the new top dog but I hope that someone takes the time to chase the funds because it might give some people a second chance to keep their jobs.

I'll let you know if I hear anything about the progression of this situation.

Be well!

Jamaica Hospital

I am keeping on the hospital theme for this entry because I believe that hospitals need all the resources they can get in order to provide premium health care to all those they serve.

When I was younger, I grew up in Ozone Park, NY and one of the local hospitals was Jamaica Hospital. I entered the name and received a number of hits. I counted 96 but I only performed a basic search. I was able to contact the hospital and was directed to a very nice director who listen intently and even if he was suspicious of my motives he never let that be know. I asked for a fax number and forwarded the information and instructions to him as well as two sample copies of the claim forms that we spoke about. he thanked me for my concern and efforts and that was one of those phone calls that make the efforts worth wild.

With economic time so tough, I hope that there was enough money to make a difference in some one's life. I like to look at what I do as paying it forward.

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.

Huntington Hospital

One evening I was performing a search for a friend of mine whose last name is Huntington. I did not enter his first initial and received a number of pages of Huntingtons. As I searched through the pages, I noticed that the Huntington Hospital had a large number of claims from several different sources and addressed to several mailing addresses. I found the hospital website on the internet and was able to contact them. I was fortunate to speak with someone in the credit department who would have some interest in collecting the funds. As always when I make contact she was sceptical about my motives so I tried to reassure her that I was not looking for any compensation and that this is just a hobby that makes me feel good because I reunite people with their property. She provided me with a fax number and I forwarded the search information and two samples of the claim forms that she would see on the NYS Comptroller's website.

I haven't heard anything about the outcome but I hope that her efforts were successful.

Thanks for listening!

NY Mets

I grew up in Queens, NY about a half an hour from Shea Stadium and have been a lifelong New York Mets fan. I never even thought to look for unclaimed property for this type of organization because it never occured to me, but my daughter told me to look and there we claims on behalf of the Mets. I contacted the accounts receivable person in the accounting department and explained that these claims were available. I had hoped to fax the claim forms to them but I could understand her reluctance at giving out that number so I just explained where they could find the information and wished her my best.

I hope that they take the time to investigate the situation because these days every little bit helps.

Have a great day!

Just a Reminder

I just want to remind everyone that the resource I use for finding unclaimed property is the website for the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (http://www.naupa.org/). For me this has been a really good resource for being able to check the fifty states.

Please remember that the best way to search is to use the last name and first initial. That will maximize the number of hits that you receive and then you can sort through them and see if anyone looks familiar.

I hope this makes your search easy.

Have a great weekend and happy hunting!

Pace University

Today I checked my old alma mata, Pace University. It turned out that twenty seven different claims appeared for the different campuses. So I was able to contact someone in the collections department and explained that I was an alumni from the class of '84 and that I have this hobby and that Pace had some money sitting at the Comptroller's office. I was lucky because the person I spoke to had been on the reporting end of the unclaimed property spectrum. She asked me to fax any documentation and the instructions to her so she could find the proper party who would be authorized to pursue the claims. I did just that and confirmed that she received the information.

I wish them luck and I hope that someone at Pace will provide some feedback because I am curious about how they made out.

That's my story for today.

Talk to you later!

AIG

It is amazing how things work out. Just recently I contacted the AIG Group Management Division via fax to let them know that there were claims for unclaimed property with the state of NY. I explained that I was not sure how many claims exist because there are so many companies that comprise AIG. I know this because I am a former employee. My first job after leaving college was with one of the AIG companies and my memories of the experience are fond ones.

I'm not sure how many other states or claims could be available but I hope that someone takes the time to look. In relation to the amount of money that the insurance giant requires to help with the current crisis, I believe this would be a drop in the bucket but if it assures that smaller vendors or insureds in the Galveston area can receive their settlements then it would be wonderful.

I hope that someone in AIG will let us know how this situation worked out and I wish them the best of luck in finding a solution to the current difficulties they are facing.

Be well everybody!

Mutual of America

Recently, I was looking at the New York state website and decided to search for a former employer of mine. Many years ago I worked for a life insurance company called Mutual of America.

That was the organization that introduced me to the concept of unclaimed property. As a member of the financial reporting group, I was asked to perform a reconciliation of the general ledger account that housed the unclaimed property. My reconciliation was successful and the knowledge I gained was useful. It was a great learning experience.

So I was curious if MOA would have unclaimed property that belonged to them. Sure enough a number of claims appeared. So I contacted MOA and spoke to a very nice administrator who investigated what I was telling her as we were having our telephone discussion. She was amazed to find that there were claims due to MOA and she told me she was going to contact the NYS Comptrollers office to find out the process of how institutions with numerous claims can easily request settlement without having to process each claim individually.

I hope she will add a comment at some point because I am curious about how the situation was resolved.

If you have any old employer stories, please feel free to add them to the comments section. I'd love to hear your story.

Have a great weekend!

Oprah Cares

I was looking at several of the paid subscription sites that allow you to search for unclaimed property. I came accross a site called unclaimedfunds.org that had a blurb about Oprah Winfrey. The site claimed that $70,000 was returned to members of the studio audience of the show that Ms. Winfrey hosts. This same claim appeared on http://www.lostmoney.com/ and http://www.foundmoney.com/ so I am assuming that this is true.

If you happen to have seen the show or know anything about this segment, please write in and let us know. I would appreciate a confirmation.

Thanks!

Federal and Other Info

I was surprise to find that the federal government will hold unclaimed property and not distribute it to the states. A webpage sponsored by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators provides links to additional resources outside of the state holdings.
( http://www.nast.org/NAUPA/Othersourcesup.htm)

The site gives insight into IRS checks that have gone unclaimed as well as pension benefits, lost federal deposits and all sorts of other information.

I suggest you take a look and see if any of these sites might apply to you.

Good luck and happy hunting.

Found a Friend

Hi all.

I was searching on the NYS Comptrollers website for unclaimed property claimants and came across the parents of a childhood friend. His father had been one of my baseball coaches in the little league. I knew that they no longer lived in Queens so I began searching for them using the white pages and to my amazement I found them living in Cary, NC. I called their new phone number and my friend's mother was almost speachless. I was a voice that she had not heard in about twenty years. We spoke for a while and caught up on the goings-on in our lives. I explained why I was calling and took their present information so I could forward the claim forms. The experience took me back to a great time in my life and I would remember the block parties, Christmas and New Years celebrations that we spent together.

This was a great opportunity to reconnect with people from my past and to provide them a little good news.

I feel really good.

Be well everybody and I hope your searching for yourself and your loved one's. Maybe you will have a good experience to share with us.

Interesting Article

Hi All! I apologize for not providing a posting in a while. I have been ill and was hospitalized for a bit. But I'm back in usual form thanks to the staff at Bon Secours hospital.

I received an email of an article that appeared in the online version of the Pocono Record on Sunday, August 31st. I apologize to the author for not providing the proper credit but I could not find the author's name.

Below is the article:

August 31, 2008

When Valorie Golin went to visit her parents in March, the first thing she did was get into their bank accounts. Golin had no larcenous intent. Quite the opposite. The 32-year-old banker was trying to keep the state of Pennsylvania from seizing her parents' savings.

You may assume it's safe to deposit money in a bank — or buy stocks or other financial assets — and then simply leave your account alone. It's not.

Under most state laws, if you don't initiate a transaction or communicate with the financial institution about it, the account is considered dormant. After three years of inactivity, your assets typically can be turned over to the state. "You've got to do something to make sure the account is considered active," said Golin, an expert on dormant accounts with ING Direct, an online unit of the financial services giant ING Group. "Otherwise the $10,000 you have saved for a rainy day might just be gone when you get around to trying to use it."

The National Assn. of Unclaimed Property Administrators, a group representing state treasurers offices, says $4.7 billion in "abandoned" assets was turned over to states in fiscal 2006, the latest year for which figures are available. That brought to $33 billion the amount of such assets in state hands. That property was seized from 117 million people, meaning there's a good chance some of it is yours. The average works out to $282 per person. It won't pay for retirement, but it's nothing to sneeze at, either.

Laws on abandoned property were enacted to protect consumers — to keep banks from eating up dormant accounts through annual account fees. Theoretically, the states are simply holding the assets in safekeeping until the owners turn up to claim them. But over the course of the last few decades, the system has become a source of cash for states, which generally do not pay interest on the abandoned funds and can use the money to fill budget holes until it is claimed. Only a fraction of these assets are ever claimed. Anyone who sets aside money for long-term goals, such as college expenses or the final years of retirement, is especially vulnerable. "There's a guy I work with who got a certificate of deposit when he got out of high school and was all excited when he graduated college because he was going to use it," Golin said. "It was gone."

The money can be retrieved, but it's often difficult. The first challenge is finding the assets; the second is filling out the copious paperwork required to get it back. The process can take months.
In many instances, assets such as jewelry and stocks that are seized from safe deposit boxes and brokerage accounts are sold shortly after going to the state. Not only can you miss out on future appreciation on your stocks, but you also can lose Grandma's jewelry.

The firms that turn your assets over to the state — usually banks, brokerages, mutual funds and insurance companies — and the state itself are supposed to make an attempt to contact you either before or soon after the property is handed over. But many property owners never find out. It's a good idea to check your state's online database of abandoned property to see whether any of it belongs to your family. You might also want to check databases for any states you used to live in.

I found three of my relatives on California's database — two cousins and an aunt. Two of the three were still living at the addresses listed in the system, but were unaware that their property was there. One cousin offered to buy dinner after he collected his money. In the last two years, more than half a dozen states have shortened the time required before funds must be turned over, and few states actively monitor whether companies are notifying account holders.
Citing budget constraints, many states have turned to Web sites and classified newspaper ads to find owners, rather than the mail or searching tax rolls. That makes it crucial to keep your accounts active, Golin said.

If you've opened an account for yourself or a child, make sure you sign into it online at least once a year. Better yet, deposit or withdraw money, she said. Any transaction, no matter how small, keeps the account active. If you have a safe deposit box, visit it annually. And urge your family members to do the same.

"This affects everyone — your brothers and sisters, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins — everyone," Golin said, "People need to be educated so they don't lose their assets."

Write to Personal Finance, Business Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St. 90012, or e-mail kathy.kristof@latimes.com.


I found this article interesting and I hope you all listen to the warning these people are trying to provide.

Thanks for reading.

Have a great day!