January 13, 2012
Find Unclaimed Property in West Virginia – Part 1 of 2
(Part 1 of 2)
Have you ever wondered what happens to lost bank accounts and other financial assets whose owners (or relatives of the original owners) can not be located? The Unclaimed Property Law requires financial institutions and businesses to hand them over to the government after a certain 'dormancy period'. These assets then remain in the hands of the State Treasury until the rightful owners come for them. Additionally the law requires states to make efforts in reuniting the lost money with their rightful owners. Some states show more efficiency than others when it comes to this and the state of West Virginia regularly places among the country's top 10 rate of properties returned, according to a recent press release by the State's Treasury Department.
Jubilant West Virginians all across the state have been getting unclaimed property checks from financial assets they forgot about at some point in time . In Harrison County, a total of over $193 thousand has been given back to a handful of residents of the state in less than three weeks – this according to a recent report. In Beckley, a total of $220,000 in West Virginia unclaimed money checks were given out, and an elderly South Charleston woman was given $23,000 worth of U.S. Savings Bonds that were in her deceased sister's name. "To receive $23,000 that you basically didn't know existed is quite nice," said Anne McConihay. "I had heard things about those bonds through the years but never saw any of them." stated the 84-year-old McConihay who also owned bonds bought by her father but does not exactly remember what became of them. "Ms. McConihay's situation is a perfect example of why states should be given the responsibility of returning these bonds," noted State Treasurer Perdue. "This money belongs to people, not the federal government. And states already have the systems and expertise in place to complete this mission."
After receiving $117,000 from the State Treasury Office, Andy Bragg, of Southern West Virginia Paving said, "We were very surprised when the State Treasurer's office called and told us they might have some unclaimed property that belonged to us."
Despite efforts of award winning West Virginia State Treasurer John Perdue to give back forgotten funds that belong to his state's residents however, there is still approximately $110 million waiting to be found in West Virginia alone.
(to be continued)
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The TSA Makes $400,000 a Year Finding Loose Change
Airport travelers left $409,085.56 at security checkpoints across the country in 2010, simply by emptying the change in their pockets into those plastic bins and not picking it up again. The Transportation Security Administration says they collect all the unclaimed money in a jar that gets counted and sent to the finance office where it's added to the general operations fund. (John F. Kennedy …
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