Tag: Unclaimed Funds

AND NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT OUR ‘FIND YOURS’ TOPIC FOR TODAY: NAMELY, HOW TO MAKE SURE YOU’VE FOUND ALL OF YOUR UNCLAIMED MONEY BY CHECKING EVERY POSSIBLE VERSION OF YOUR NAME. WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT? THE SIMPLEST EXAMPLE IS MARRIED WOMEN WHO HAVE TAKEN THEIR HUSBAND’S NAME. THEY SHOULD ALWAYS SEARCH FOR UNCLAIMED MONEY UNDER THEIR MAIDEN NAME AND THEIR MARRIED NAME.

BUT THERE ARE ALSO LESS OBVIOUS NAME VARIATIONS TO SEARCH AS WELL. HERE’S A LIST OF THINGS TO TRY WHEN USING THE WEBSITES MISSINGMONEY.COM AND UNCLAIMED.ORG (NOTE, THAT’S .ORG) TO SEARCH FOR UNCLAIMED MONEY:

NUMBER 1: SEARCH YOUR NAME BACKWARDS BECAUSE THE BUREAUCRATS WHO ENTERED IT COULD HAVE FLIPPED IT. SO, I WOULD SEARCH UNDER ELISABETH LEAMY, BUT ALSO UNDER LEAMY, ELISABETH.

NUMBER 2: SEARCH JUST YOUR LAST NAME AND DON’T PUT ANYTHING IN THE FIRST NAME FIELD. SOMETIMES FIRST NAMES GET LEFT OFF OF RECORDS. YOU’LL VERIFY IT’S YOU IF YOU’VE LIVED AT THE ADDRESS LISTED.

NUMBER 3: PUT JUST YOUR FIRST NAME IN THE LAST NAME FIELD AND SEE IF ANY OF THE LISTINGS MATCH AN ADDRESS WHERE YOU HAVE LIVED.

4, PUT YOUR FIRST AND LAST NAME IN THE LAST NAME FIELD. IT MAKES SENSE TO TRY THIS WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE GLITCHES THAT HAPPEN WHEN COMPUTERS MERGE SPREADSHEETS.

5TH, SEARCH COMMON MISSPELLINGS OF YOUR NAME. PEOPLE OFTEN THINK MY LAST NAME IS LEAHY INSTEAD OF LEAMY, FOR EXAMPLE.

6TH, SEARCH VARIATIONS ON YOUR NAME. LIKE IF YOUR NAME IS KATHERINE, YOU’LL WANT TO SEARCH KATHERINE WITH A K, CATHERINE WITH A C AND KATHRYN WITH A Y NEAR THE END. I’D THROW IN KATHLEEN TOO.

NUMBER 7: SEARCH FORMAL AND INFORMAL VERSIONS OF YOUR NAME, LIKE ELISABETH, LIZ, LIZZY AND BETH.

8. TRY DIFFERENT NAME PUNCTUATION: FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOUR NAME HAS AN APOSTROPHE IN IT, LIKE THE NAME O’NEILL, TRY ENTERING THE NAME WITH AND WITHOUT THE APOSTROPHE. AND IF YOUR NAME HAS A PREFIX LIKE MACARTHUR, TRY THAT ALL AS ONE WORD AND WITH A SPACE BETWEEN MAC AND ARTHUR.

9: PUT THE NAME OF BANKS AND BROKERAGE FIRMS WHERE YOU HAVE DONE BUSINESS IN THE LAST NAME SLOT BECAUSE SOMETIMES UNCLAIMED INVESTMENT OR RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS ARE LISTED UNDER THE BANK OR BROKERAGE INSTEAD OF UNDER YOUR NAME. YOUR NAME MAY HAVE GOTTEN BUMPED DOWN TO THE ADDRESS FIELD IN THIS CASE.

AND 10TH AND FINAL TIP: PUT THE NAME OF COMPANIES WHERE YOU HAVE WORKED IN THE LAST NAME FIELD AND, AGAIN, LOOK FOR YOUR NAME IN THE ADDRESS FIELD. THIS CAN HAPPEN WITH MISPLACED 401K AND HEALTH INSURANCE MONEY.

HEADS UP, PEOPLE! YOUR CITY MAY HAVE UNCLAIMED MONEY FOR YOU! UP UNTIL NOW, I’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT STATE UNCLAIMED MONEY FUNDS AND HOW TO FIND THOSE, BUT IT WOULD BE A MISTAKE TO OVERLOOK CITIES AND THE MONEY THEY SOMETIMES HOLD FOR THEIR CITIZENS. LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE. A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS AT GOOD MORNING AMERICA, THE CITY OF PASADENA, CALIFORNIA WAS HOLDING A BUNCH OF UNCLAIMED MONEY FOR PEOPLE. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE CITY HAD MORE THAN A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS AVAILABLE FOR PEOPLE FROM CITY CHECKS THAT WERE NEVER CASHED. THE BAD NEWS IS THAT PASADENA HAD DECIDED THAT IF PEOPLE DIDN’T CLAIM THE MONEY BY A CERTAIN DATE, THE CITY WAS GOING TO KEEP IT! SO MY PRODUCER AND I RUSHED TO CALIFORNIA TO TRY TO GET THE WORD OUT.

WE VISITED THE ADDRESSES ON THE CITY’S LIST AND FOUND THAT MANY PEOPLE HAD MOVED, WHICH IS WHY THEY HAD NEVER GOTTEN THEIR CITY CHECKS. OTHER PEOPLE DIDN’T BELIEVE US WHEN WE FOUND THEM AND SHARED THE GOOD NEWS. STORY OF MY LIFE WITH UNCLAIMED MONEY.

PEOPLE THINK IT’S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE! WE LEARNED HOW LITTLE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO TO REUNITE PEOPLE WITH THEIR UNCLAIMED MONEY. IN THIS CASE, ONE OF THE RECIPIENTS OWED UNCLAIMED MONEY WAS THE PASADENA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, A FELLOW GOVERNMENT ENTITY THAT’S ONLY 16 BLOCKS FROM CITY HALL! BUT THE CITY HAD DONE NOTHING TO TELL THEM.

WE OURSELVES ALERTED PEOPLE TO MORE THAN 14-THOUSAND DOLLARS WAITING TO BE CLAIMED. THE OWNER OF A COMIC BOOK STORE HAD $270 DOLLARS COMING. THAT MAY NOT SOUND LIKE MUCH, BUT THINK HOW MANY COMIC BOOKS HE’D HAVE TO SELL TO MAKE THAT! WE FOUND A COUPLE WHO WERE OWED $1,750 DOLLARS IN REBATES FROM A RENTAL PROPERTY THEY OWNED. AND WE TRACKED DOWN A CONTRACTOR WHO PROBABLY OVERPAID FOR PERMITS AND WAS DUE MORE THAN 3-THOUSAND 3-HUNDRED DOLLARS! OFTEN CITIES TURN THEIR OWN UNCLAIMED MONEY ACCOUNTS OVER TO THEIR STATES FOR SAFEKEEPING. BUT, AS THE PASADENA EXAMPLE SHOWS, THAT IS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE AND THERE IS REAL MONEY OUT THERE BEING HELD BY CITIES.

I THINK EVERYBODY SHOULD CHECK EVERY CITY THEY’VE EVER LIVED IN. BUT THERE’S EVEN MORE INCENTIVE TO CHECK IF YOU HAVE EVER BEEN A CITY EMPLOYEE OR IF YOU HAVE EVER DONE BUSINESS WITH A CITY —LIKE THAT CONTRACTOR— OR BEEN SUBJECT TO A LOT OF TAX IN A CITY —LIKE THOSE LANDLORDS. THANKS TO THE INTERNET, IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE TO SEARCH. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE’S NOT A CENTRALIZED DATABASE OF CITY UNCLAIMED MONEY, SO I SUGGEST SEARCHING THE NAME OF THE CITY OR COUNTY AND THE WORDS “UNCLAIMED MONEY” OR “UNCLAIMED PROPERTY” OR “UNCASHED CHECKS.” GOOD LUCK!