When I was launching the Easy Money podcast, I searched for unclaimed money for everybody in my contacts list, and I found something for a friend named Lori Atwood who happens to be a certified financial planner. Here’s a summary of our interview about her unclaimed money.
Here you are a financial guru. Were you surprised there was unclaimed money out there for you?
Yes! It had been out there for years and I had no idea until you told me.
What was the money from?
It was escrow money left over from when I bought my first single gal condo.
At first you weren’t convinced it was actually, yours, right? Why was that?
When you search for unclaimed money, the bank or other business that the money came from is listed. But I had never banked at the company listed under my name, which was confusing.
But I pushed you to do a little fancy footwork to verify that the account was your, because your name and address and everything else matched. What did you do?
You suggested that I pull my credit report to see if the account appeared on there.
And what did that reveal?
Turns out the bank where I used to have a mortgage for my old condo had been bought by another bank.
So, once you knew the unclaimed money really was yours, what did you have to do to claim it?
I was able to submit a copy of my credit report to the government as proof that the account was mine.
?And, drum roll please, when you finally got your check, how much money was it?
About $500!
Thanks for sharing that unclaimed money story, Lori. Folks, I have been wanting to have Lori on for months to help make two really important points about unclaimed money.
One, these days it is VERY common for banks and other companies to merge or buy each other, so if you see an unfamiliar company name on your unclaimed money report, keep digging. It’s probably yours.
And, number two, your free credit report is a GREAT resource for figuring out a mystery like this. AND for proving it to the government so you can claim your money. Our credit reports list not only old accounts but old addresses going back years, so they’re a secret weapon in the quest for unclaimed money.
I will post the website where you can get your FREE credit reports AND the two main websites to search for unclaimed money like Lori did at EasyMoneyShow.com/48. Lori Atwood, thank you so much for telling us about FearlessFInance.com AND sharing your unclaimed money story.
EPISODE 48 FIND YOURS LINKS:
•Legitimate website to get your FREE credit reports: AnnualCreditReport.com
•FREE websites to search for unclaimed money:
MissingMoney.com and unclaimed.org.
