When an individual account or an investment account has been forgotten, abandoned or unclaimed after a certain period of time, escheatment is the process of retrieving lost funds when a financial institution reports and transfers the fund to the appropriate state. First, the firm must take diligent effort to find the individual account holder. If the owner is not found within a certain period of time, the state claims the account through the escheatment process.
The State can hold the account or the sales proceed, indefinitely.
Through the Real Estate HUB Center©, users and guests can access these websites and search the database free of charge. We encourage everyone to take special precaution when submitting claims and be vigilant on who is acquiring the information before committing on releasing your personal identity information.
You should search the database for every state you lived with any alias name you have used.
What's Unclaimed Property? Every U.S. state, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands have unclaimed property programs that actively and continuously find owners of the lost and forgotten assets. The purpose of unclaimed property laws is to protect consumers by ensuring money owed to them is returned to them rather than becoming the property of the institutions, businesses associations, governments and other entities.
Claims can be made all the way into perpetuity in most cases, even by heirs.
How do I begin my free search? Institutions by law are required to surrender any dormant accounts over a certain period of time to their State. This could mean you potentially have unclaimed property in every state you have or had residency.
If the search for unclaimed property is for free, why do I receive notices that indicates there is a charge to search? Business firms are using the states' freedom of information acts to obtain owners information and these firms are notifying individuals that they will conduct a search for any unclaimed property in their name for a fee. For this reason, if you have received such notice you should be vigilant before providing any personal information to a stranger.
How do I protect my property from becoming lost in the future? Property is lost due to lack of communication between owner and the institution. The account holder should contact institutions at least once a year by creating a transaction, keeping the account from becoming dormant and update mailing address when necessary. For security reasons, most financial institutions do not forward mail. Always update your mailing address with the institution. Keep accurate financial records of all your accounts, insurance policies, bank account numbers, types of accounts, stock certificates and rent and utility deposits.