Unclaimed Money Amounts Increase While Claims Decrease

The amount of people coming forward to claim unclaimed money has not increased. This is in spite of the great initiatives the government has been taking to educate the public about these larges sums of money. Unclaimed money or property includes lost bank accounts, pay checks not cashed, safety deposits and gift certificates. Unclaimed money is not always in the form of cash; it can also be in the form of mutual funds, stocks, and safe deposit boxes.

Unclaimed property comes from different sources, such as credit unions, banks, corporations, insurance agencies, retailers and different governmental agencies located in that state. It is the responsibility of the State Treasuries to take care of the found money and assist people, who are trying to find unclaimed money.

The major contributors to the growing pile of unclaimed properties are:

• Stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and dividends
• Certificates of deposit
• Matured or terminated insurance policies
• Estates
• Mineral interests and royalty payments, trust funds, and escrow accounts.
• Un-cashed cashier's checks or money orders
• Bank accounts and safe deposit box contents

New York is popular for having the fastest growing pile of lost money, and the rate is still growing at an alarming pace. This growing pile of unclaimed money consists of 25 million inactive bank and government accounts. Even though the government agencies are trying very hard to locate the rightful owners of the lost funds, the success rate of their efforts is negligible.

The authorities of different states, including New York's State Treasury, are initiating awareness camps and programs to educate the people about the importance of found money to their finances, along with ways to find unclaimed money. According to the recent figures, the volume of turnouts to these events has not been very encouraging. Many states have launched unclaimed property search websites, in coordination with NAUPA, that assist people in finding the appropriate process in reclaiming their money. This step has yielded positive results but still the pile of unclaimed funds is on a constant rise.

Many aggressive steps have been taken by the New York State Comptroller’s Office to improve the reclaim program so that the outreach can also be improved. This aggressive program has been showing positive results and the citizens of New York have also received it positively. This success has lead to the organization of different public events so that participation is increased and awareness is spread. You can also visit the official website of www.osc.state.ny.us to get more information related to this concept.

With the improvements in the state programs, the conce s in the minds of the citizens are also increasing, as they believe that unclaimed funds are now largely used towards the social programs and other welfare activities. This has also led to the rise of different issues and is catching government’s attention because many feel that there may be political reasons behind the utilization of unclaimed funds for social works.

Some of us still are unaware of the need and importance of unclaimed money in improving our finances, and it is because of this ignorance the pile of lost funds are still increasing while the claims are decreasing continuously.