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" Did you hear? The state treasury of Ohio announced this week that they released a list boasting a record amount of unclaimed property. If you have no idea what that means, you&amp;#039;re not alone. According to USLegal.com, every state has unclaimed property laws which declare money, property, and other assets to be abandoned after a certain period of time, depending on the asset. According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, it&amp;#039;s our consumer right to claim it, and has been one since the 1940s\u2014though it&amp;#039;s just recently been more heavily enforced (past 15 years). Where does unclaimed property come from? According to Unclaimed.org, common forms of unclaimed property include: savings or checking accounts, stocks, uncashed dividends or payroll checks, refunds, traveler&amp;#039;s checks, trust distributions, unredeemed money orders or gift certificates (in some states), insurance payments or refunds and life insurance policies, annuities, certificates of deposit, customer overpayments, utility security deposits, mineral royalty payments, and contents of safe deposit boxes. Why does everyone think it&amp;#039;s a scam? Two reasons, really: Imagine getting a letter from an unclaimed property service provider telling you that you have unclaimed money, and, that by going through them, opposed to the state, you&amp;#039;ll get it faster. Ironically, it&amp;#039;s true. Companies like Harris Eckland &amp;amp;amp; Associates in Tallahassee, Florida, work directly with the state, giving consumers easier access. Christopher Ferraro, an associate at investment firm BlackRock Kelso Capital in New York City, says, &amp;quot;Unclaimed property service providers are backed by the state to help facilitate this process, and as such, are likely compensated on a percentage of recovered property value.&amp;quot; What&amp;#039;s the catch? &amp;quot;Unclaimed property administration is supported as both a means of helping its constituents locate and recover property that is rightfully theirs, but also as a means of collecting taxable property income that is rightfully due,&amp;quot; Ferraro explains. Meaning, everyone gets a cut. &amp;quot;State wins because they don&amp;#039;t have to house the property anymore and can tax it; owner wins because he/she has their property back; service provider wins for performing a necessary service, and getting a percentage of the returned fund.&amp;quot; Links you need: The easiest way to find out if you have unclaimed property is to use Unclaimed.org, which will link you to individual state unclaimed property websites, or MissingMoney.com, which allows you to do a general search (since many state websites team up with it). If you happen to find your name on the list, and would like to hire a service to help you track it down, be sure to use Better Business Bureau (BBB.org) to make sure whichever company you choose is legitimate. For more info, read 7 Ways to Find Unclaimed Money. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/work-money/news/a44381/whats-the-deal-unclaimed-money-2887/>