How The Government And State Treasuries Handle Millions In Unclaimed Funds

The federal government and state treasuries are currently holding onto millions of dollars in unclaimed funds. Unclaimed funds are those that belong to everyday Americans, but that have yet to be claimed. These individuals may never know that this money exists until they are actually informed of the government unclaimed funds. Right now government and state treasury officials are torn over what to do. They are considering a massive campaign to inform the public about this growing problem, but until then we can only watch and wait and hope that more people search for unclaimed funds on their own so that this problem can once and for all be alleviated.

Government Unclaimed Fund Sources

Where does all this money come from? If the money belongs to everyday Americans, why don’t those same citizens know about these government unclaimed funds? Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut, cookie-cutter answer. The money comes from a variety of sources and there’s no easy way to stop the flow since the reasons are so varied.

For example, government unclaimed money can come from:

Abandoned bank accounts

• Safe deposit boxes
• Tax refunds
• Court settlements
• Insurance payouts
• Federal benefits
• Uncashed payroll checks

That’s just to name a few. With millions in unclaimed funds and with more money coming in all the time, something must be done. Most of the time, the government unclaimed funds come from a person moving from one address to another without filing a change of address form with the post office. When the money is sent to the mailbox and then never reaches the person, it’s sent back where it gets added to the federal or state treasury. Even when the person hasn’t moved, for some reason they fail to cash whatever check was sent to them and they inadvertently add to the growing government unclaimed funds conundrum.

So what can officials do about it? Some treasury officers have suggested that booths be set up at state and county fairs and some have suggested direct mailers and post cards. Some have even suggested a well-produced TV commercial and/or Internet marketing campaign. Yet these things cost money and with so much unclaimed money to account for, there just aren’t enough resources available to maintain and count that money and launch a massive public awareness campaign.

It is up to us, the people of the United States, the citizens of each of the states that are encumbered with these unclaimed funds. We must all conduct our own search for this government unclaimed money. If we do find money, we should then tell everyone we know about the money finding process.

Most citizens would love a financial boost, even if that boost was only fifty to one hundred dollars more than they’re making now. When you tell people that you essentially discovered free money and you didn’t have to do anything but conduct an online search using your first and last name, most people will jump on the chance to do their own search for government unclaimed money.

With the states holding onto so much money and the federal government powerless to do anything about it, maybe it is up to the citizens to conduct our own searches for this government unclaimed money. How much do you have out there? You’ll never know until you log on and conduct your own search for this money that so far is becoming a thorn in the side to many officials. Could you have a hundred out there? Two hundred? A thousand? There’s only one way to find out.