Unclaimed Property
According to a rough estimate state treasurers of USA, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have an estimated thirty two billion dollar worth of assets that are held in 117 million inactive or dormant banking accounts as profits, interest, sweepstake , money orders , checking accounts, travelers checks proceeds or dividends that were never claimed and /or withdrawn by their legal holders. Unclaimed gift certificates of some companies also are considered unclaimed property in some states.
State Level Unclaimed Property Program And Missing Money
Unclaimed property records are run at state level to ensure that these unclaimed properties are returned to their rightful and legally entitled owner. The state level legislation requires each institution with whom such funds are maintained to deposit such funds in state owned accounts. To ensure safe custody and transparency of refund mechanism all state owned programs are interconnected via the interstate database called www.missingmoney.com . This website is updated weekly.
NAUPA And Its Role In Ethical Retrieval Of Unclaimed Property
National Association for Unclaimed Property Administrators is a nonprofit organization aimed to regulate the unclaimed property refund program. It is a interstate and an international platform for collaboration and research in legislative reforms for unclaimed property refund.It is an affiliate of national Association of state treasurers and The Council of State Governments in united states.For refund claim of missing property NAUPA has endorsed Missing Money.
Who Would Search For Missing Monet Through NAUPA.
All residents of United States of America having internet access who desire to search for unclaimed property in their names can login to missing money through NAUPA website.
Step By Step Process
The search can be done through state owned data bases or through missing money’s consolidated database.
- Log into www.unclaimed.org and click on missing money link to go to www.missingmoney.com
- Enter first name .last name, residing state (current) and click “Go” to search the consolidated website of all states.
- If you wish to check unclaimed property at any previous address you should choose search through state database. Choose desired state from the map at the website and click Go.
- For FAQs: http://www.missingmoney.com/GeneralHelp/FAQ.cfm
Summary
If you are searching for unclaimed property, use the free search service provided by state treasury services department website. NAUPA also provides a link to the collective database at MissingMoney in order to ensure that the money is returned to its legal owner.
