samantha25
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Post by samantha25 on Jan 8, 2016 17:48:26 GMT
I didn't realize that the State of Colorado can "transfer" funds from a bank account, savings account, safe deposit box for inactivity. I had less than $100 in an account and just let it sit in there. I originally put this money in there to get a free Winter Park Ski pass (new account offer) back in 2000. I have to fill out a claim form to get the funds back. I also found another unclaimed property- a vendor check from Stampin Up from 2008 for $12! Weird. I checked my DH's name and he had a $20 refund from a cable company in 2002.
PSA- check your state for unclaimed property!
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Post by scrappersue on Jan 8, 2016 17:55:16 GMT
I had this happened to me in Washington state. I had a savings account under my maiden name with about $2000 in it. I let it sit "just in case". They turned it over to the state and I had to fill out paperwork to get it back. It made me mad because they sent me interest statements on it every year and I claimed the interest on my taxes (back in the day when savings account actually paid something in interest).
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Deleted
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May 19, 2024 18:50:21 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2016 17:58:22 GMT
Pretty much any state can. I was just talking to someone at my bank this morning about a couple of dormant accounts we have. She says the banks do everything but show up at your door to try and keep it from happening but after a point, the monies get moved to the state's unclaimed fund program.
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Post by Megan on Jan 8, 2016 18:10:34 GMT
Well, yeah lol. I wouldn't say the state "takes" the money but the bank isn't going to hold an inactive account for 15 years.
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Deleted
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May 19, 2024 18:50:21 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2016 18:13:51 GMT
If you have an account somewhere you want to keep "just in case" through $10 in it a couple of times a year to keep it active. Otherwise, I think all states have a right to close out inactive accounts.
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Post by Bitchy Rich on Jan 8, 2016 18:36:15 GMT
It's the law in most states, so people can find their money. Have people really never heard of Escheat law? They didn't really take your money, as much as require companies to remit it it to them so you can find it. Plus, it's about the only way people can find some money after their relatives die.
Just because you are earning interest on the account, is not enough to make the account active.
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Post by littlemama on Jan 8, 2016 18:39:08 GMT
They don't "take" it - the bank is required to turn it over to them once the account has been dormant for a certain period of time. In my state, they are supposed to contact you first.
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Post by chaosisapony on Jan 8, 2016 18:44:41 GMT
I did this a few months ago and got $11 for myself and found anywhere from $20-$200 for several friends and family members.
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Post by lisacharlotte on Jan 8, 2016 18:44:53 GMT
I had an account with over $1000. Texas sent me a letter telling me to check their site to see if it's me. It is! Unfortunately they require me to provide ID and SSN (no problem) and documentation with my address at the time. That's the problem. I was in the Air Force in training status 26 years ago. I have nothing with that temp address. I just sent a request to national archives to try to get something from my military records with that address. I can't request a status update for 90 days. Hopefully this doesn't take forever.
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Post by lucyg on Jan 8, 2016 18:50:19 GMT
California does the same thing. Or I guess I should say, banks in California do the same thing.
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bethany102399
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Post by bethany102399 on Jan 8, 2016 18:53:27 GMT
lisacharlotte, we just had to request several sets of records from the Archives and it took well less than the 90 days to get an answer. I was actually pretty surprised.
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GiantsFan
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Jun 27, 2014 14:44:56 GMT
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Post by GiantsFan on Jan 8, 2016 20:49:31 GMT
It's called a dormant account. If there is no activity a bank is required to send (actually termed "escheat") the money to the state. It's not uncommon.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Jan 8, 2016 21:32:25 GMT
huh-- I never knew that. I have a savings account at a credit union associated with a former employer, and it's had about $11 in it for years. The reason I still have the savings account is that one of my credit cards is tied to that account, and to keep the credit card (which has a very long credit history) I have to keep the savings account. Good to know; perhaps I should deposit $5 in the savings account, or something...
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Post by maryland on Jan 8, 2016 21:38:08 GMT
I just got a letter yesterday about a bank acct. being inactive and we have to sign forms to activate or it goes into unclaimed property. We are in PA. We just have a small amt. of money at this bank so we can have a safe deposit box.
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Post by katlady on Jan 8, 2016 21:40:59 GMT
My mom has this problem with one of her accounts. She has to remember to deposit $5 in it every year or they shut off her access to it.
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Deleted
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May 19, 2024 18:50:21 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2016 21:46:07 GMT
It's the law in most states, so people can find their money. Have people really never heard of Escheat law? They didn't really take your money, as much as require companies to remit it it to them so you can find it. Plus, it's about the only way people can find some money after their relatives die. Just because you are earning interest on the account, is not enough to make the account active. This. It's actually to protect you from losing money. |
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Deleted
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May 19, 2024 18:50:21 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2016 21:47:32 GMT
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AnotherPea
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Post by AnotherPea on Jan 8, 2016 23:11:11 GMT
Can a credit report be good for showing a former address? Might be easier than going through the Archives
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Post by cmpeter on Jan 8, 2016 23:49:00 GMT
The length of time before funds have to be escheated to the states also varies by state. A few years ago some states shortened that time to generate more income (the state collects interest on the escheated funds). I work for a company that escheats funds to the states. when states attempt to shorten the esteachment period it affects our bottom line. One unnamed state once attempted to shorten there period so significantly we (and many other companies) would have stopped doing business in that state.
Nothing against our customers getting their funds back, but if it's just sitting there collecting interest, we would rather be the ones who collect that interest. We are the ones who went through the expense of acquiring and maintaining you as a customer.
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samantha25
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Posts: 2,914
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Post by samantha25 on Jan 9, 2016 1:36:23 GMT
The length of time before funds have to be escheated to the states also varies by state. A few years ago some states shortened that time to generate more income (the state collects interest on the escheated funds). I work for a company that escheats funds to the states. when states attempt to shorten the esteachment period it affects our bottom line. One unnamed state once attempted to shorten there period so significantly we (and many other companies) would have stopped doing business in that state. Nothing against our customers getting their funds back, but if it's just sitting there collecting interest, we would rather be the ones who collect that interest. We are the ones who went through the expense of acquiring and maintaining you as a customer. I was curious about states generating income from this money. I started to read a law suit filed in Illinois about dividends not received by certain parties and how they won (I think the party won (not the state) from what I comprehended, did not read the whole document). Very interesting indeed. I can see where it is a hassle to provide documentation to recover money or near impossible. Eventually, what happens to it? It may be as little as $10, but if there is enough accounts that is a lot of revenue. |
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Post by txdancermom on Jan 9, 2016 2:47:44 GMT
It can happen in any state - if there is no customer activity for a time, they are required to report it and turn it over to the states as unclaimed funds.
I regularly check states where we, or relatives have lived for funds. We found a couple hundred dollars last year
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MerryMom
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Post by MerryMom on Jan 10, 2016 22:48:21 GMT
In Ohio, any returned checks or inactive accounts can be turned over to Unclaimed Funds.
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Post by compeateropeator on Jan 11, 2016 1:44:26 GMT
As someone that use to manage the dept. that was responsible for a bank's escheatment project, it is a pain in the neck...hahaha. But it is to protect the customer. It took a lot of time and resources. We had to send out letters if addresses where known, and then submitting all the info to the state....ahhhggggg! It is not something that I miss now that I have changed jobs. However on the other side, I just received almost $300.00 listed in my state's abandon property. A couple hundred dollars was stocks from that bank.  When the bank was sold I could not find my certificates for a some of the shares that I owned. It was going to cost me almost as much as they were worth to apply for new certificates so I just did nothing, thinking I was going to come across them any day - ya right! For once in my life being a procrastinator paid off and I got my money...it just took me awhile.  Anyway in my state it is pretty easy to get it back especially if it is submitted with your current address. All I had to do is submit a notarized form and a copy of my license. If it has an old address you just have to have documentation showing that address (i.e tax return, etc). It is worth checking your state's abandon property list periodically, you never know. |
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Post by anxiousmom on Jan 11, 2016 2:03:43 GMT
Anyway in my state it is pretty easy to get it back especially if it is submitted with your current address. All I had to do is submit a notarized form and a copy of my license. If it has an old address you just have to have documentation showing that address (i.e tax return, etc). It is worth checking your state's abandon property list periodically, you never know. Thanks to this thread, I just googled unclaimed property for my state. I had a check from MY CURRENT homeowners insurance. I have no idea why, not only are they my current insurer, but I still live at the exact same address (for the last 20 plus years) so all they would have to do is send it to the address on file.  Anyway, I was able to file the claim for the funds online-took all of about 5 minutes. They say that it will take 60 plus days for it to be processed and mailed, so I will likely forget about it between now and then.  |
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Post by compeateropeator on Jan 11, 2016 2:34:40 GMT
Anyway in my state it is pretty easy to get it back especially if it is submitted with your current address. All I had to do is submit a notarized form and a copy of my license. If it has an old address you just have to have documentation showing that address (i.e tax return, etc). It is worth checking your state's abandon property list periodically, you never know. Thanks to this thread, I just googled unclaimed property for my state. I had a check from MY CURRENT homeowners insurance. I have no idea why, not only are they my current insurer, but I still live at the exact same address (for the last 20 plus years) so all they would have to do is send it to the address on file. Anyway, I was able to file the claim for the funds online-took all of about 5 minutes. They say that it will take 60 plus days for it to be processed and mailed, so I will likely forget about it between now and then. Yea! Don't you love an unexpected windfall.  Is it possible it was a check that was sent out that you never received (or knew about)? I had a 10.00 check from my insurance company also. One year they sent out rebates/a bonus and I never cashed the check. But it wasn't something I was expecting, so if it had gotten lost in the mail I would have never known it was issued. As a matter of fact I still had the check when I found it on the list. How stupid is that...hahaha. But it was also listed with my current address (which I have also been at for about 20 years) so it was easy to get. My next quest is to find out if I can still get my $ from some old Staples rebates that were sent as visa cards. I hated when they went from checks to the cards because I couldn't just deposit them, and I always forgot to use the darn things. I still have the cards but of course they say void after so long. |
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When the bank was sold I could not find my certificates for a some of the shares that I owned. It was going to cost me almost as much as they were worth to apply for new certificates so I just did nothing, thinking I was going to come across them any day - ya right! For once in my life being a procrastinator paid off and I got my money...it just took me awhile. 
