Welcome!
I know you want to get right into how to search for and find money on www.unclaimed.org and the other sites I recommend.
Good luck on your treasure hunt! Email your success stories to themissingmoneylady@gmail.com and I’ll post them on www.TheLittleBookOfMissingMoney.com. Inspire others!
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Third edition
© Copyright 2013. All rights reserved. No portion may be copied, forwarded or reproduced in any format without the written consent of the author.
All names and marks mentioned in this print or digital book are the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
Do the Right Thing Publishing
ISBN: 9780991193608
Success Stories
Foreword
Preface
Introduction
The Terminology
Finder’s Fees—to pay or not to pay
Avoid Missing Money Scams
71 SEARCH TIPS
The Basics
The Name Game
Charities and Churches
Hospitals
Businesses and Corporations
Local, State and Federal Government
101 PLACES TO LOOK
The Government
Social Security Administration
IRS Refunds
Veterans Administration
Financial Management Services
USA.gov
Courts
US Bankruptcy Court
Canadian Bankruptcy Unclaimed Funds
Class Action Lawsuits
Child Support Payments
Florida
Illinois—Cook County
Illinois—Will County
Michigan
North Carolina
Ohio—Franklin County
Oregon
South Carolina
Wisconsin
Banking, Financial Services, Stocks
National Credit Union Administration
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Savings Bonds
Stocks
Investors Claims Funds
Housing and Urban Development/FHA Refunds
Safe Deposit Boxes
Performance Royalties
Music Publishing
EMI
Sony
Universal
Warner Music Group
Professional Organizations/Union
Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies
SAG/AFTRA Foreign Royalties/US Royalties
Director’s Guild of America
Writer’s Guild of America
Recording Artists Royalties
Screen Actors Guild
Performing Rights Organizations
American Society of Composers, Authors and Performers
Broadcast Music, Inc.
SESAC
Sound Exchange
Preventing Lost Royalty Payments
Retirement Benefits
Stale-dated checks
Terminated 401K Plans
National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Federal Employees Retirement System/Civil Service Retirement System
Thrift Savings Plans
US Railroad Retirement Board
NY State Deferred Compensation Plan
SC Retirement System Unclaimed Funds
Wisconsin State Retirement
Other State Retirement Programs
Life Insurance
Life Insurance Searches
The American Council of Life Insurers
New York Life Unclaimed Assets
Veterans Life Insurance
Survivor Benefits
Federal Employee Retirement System Death Benefits
Ohio Department of Insurance
Louisiana Department of Insurance
Medical Information Bureau
The Lost Life Insurance Finder Expert
FindYourPolicy.com
International Unclaimed Property Sites
Canada
Bank of Canada
British Columbia
Quebec
Alberta
Nova Scotia Intestate Unclaimed Funds
Nova Scotia Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation
Ontario
Bankruptcy Court of Canada
United Kingdom
Bona Vacantia
Citizen’s Advice Bureau
Pension Tracking Service
Investment Management Association
Unclaimed Assets Register
Ireland
France
Switzerland
Australia
Australian Tax Office
New Zealand
Malaysia
Jamaica
India
Kenya
Compensation Funds
Holocaust Survivors
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
Vaccine Injury Compensation Act
9/11 Victim Compensation Fund
Disaster Money
Victims of Violent Crimes
Miscellaneous Money
Gift Cards
Escheat Estates
Unclaimed Criminal Restitution
Lawyer Trust Accounts
United States Free Public Directory
Unpaid Foreign Claims
Native American Indians
Oil and Mineral Royalties
Old Stock Certificates
Postal Money Orders
Lost Luggage
Recovered Stolen Property
Tips to prevent your money from going to the state
Change of Name/Address Checklist
State Contact Information
States
US Territories
Canada
AFTERWORD
Book Mary Pitman/Bulk Sales
Antoinette Furst, San Diego, CA – “I’m an MBA who has always been meticulous with my finances. So when I heard from Mary that I had over $1100 in unclaimed funds with the state, I definitely didn’t believe it. After a little research on my own, I came to find that Mary had uncovered money that was indeed mine that for sure would have been lost forever had she not contacted me. Mary’s search tactics and knowledge of where to uncover lost money and how to do it is uncanny and hands down unlike anyone that exists today.”
Kathie Nelson, Beaverton, OR – “Mary Pitman is a rock star. I don’t know exactly how Mary does it but she is able to find money like no one I’ve ever seen!”
Stephanie Miles, East Saint Louis, MO – “I am elated and grateful to have found $1,300 in my dad’s name. This money will be useful in providing homecare for my elderly mom.”
Annemarie Schuetz – “My mother-in-law died so fast she had no time to get records in order. My sister-in-law and I are SURE that there is more money out there. Now we can find it -- without hiring anyone. Thank you for this. What a difference you must be making for people.”
Germaine Leonard, FL – “I found $646 from an insurance policy my parents bought when I was young. My sister found the money for me by going to Michigan’s State Treasury. All I had to do was claim it. Thank you, Mary, for letting people know the possibilities.”
George Maher, Vero Beach, FL – “Just got in and found an e-mail from a friend who listened to Mary on my broadcast yesterday. She followed Mary’s simple instructions and found money within 3 minutes of beginning her search! This works!!!”
Cina Wong, Handwriting expert, Norfolk, VA – “The Missing Money Lady helped me find money when I was sure I didn’t have any unclaimed funds. Wow, was I glad I was wrong! Buy the book. In the end, if you find unclaimed funds, the book will be free and you many have money left over.”
Steve Olsher, Author: Internet Prophets, Chicago, IL – “Mary helped me save over $3,000 in finder’s fees by showing me exactly what to do to claim $10,000+ owed to one of my companies. Everyone should read this book!!”
BullDog, Radio Personality, WOCM – “One of the most eye-opening books I’ve read in years. Mary makes it easy to understand and I recovered almost $2,000!”
Hank Guarenti, Fullerton, CA – “I had never even heard of missing money until Mary told me she found $1440.56 for me. I received the refund in less than four weeks. Thank you, Mary!”
Christopher M. Dermody, DMD, Vero Beach, FL, found his money using search tip # 16 from the book and said, “Getting this money was easier than pulling a tooth with bone loss.”
The expression “Money makes the world go round” may be true, but some of it seems to get lost along the way. The whereabouts of some financial accounts goes astray as does our car keys. Sometimes lost monies are held by companies or institutions we don’t know … and just as importantly … that don’t know us.
Mary Pitman has made an extraordinary effort to help make sense of the myriad of destinations where missing money collects and how to go about searching for and claiming what it is rightfully yours. “The Little Book of MISSING MONEY” makes clear where to look and how to begin your search.
There are millions of dollars being held as unclaimed tax refunds, court settlements, investment accounts, retirement accounts, and more. Helping people get their money from their retirement plans is of particular interest to PenChecks, a leading company providing professional distribution services for retirement plans. PenChecks has understood for nearly two decades that when retirement plans terminate or when previous employees move, it can be difficult to reunite individuals with their money. As a public service, PenChecks established the “National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits” as an online database to allow anyone to search for unclaimed retirement accounts associated with their social security number.
PenChecks is also concerned about the status of unclaimed retirement benefits that take the form of uncashed checks. These are benefit distributions that have been made by a plan administrator in an attempt to cash out a former retirement plan participant. For details on this largely unknown source of unclaimed property read the section on uncashed/stale-dated checks from retirement plans in the section on Retirement Benefits.
There may be important things money can’t buy. For everything else, we work and save all the money we can. When we move, we don’t always alert everyone with whom we’ve ever had a financial transaction of our new address. And when loved ones pass away, it can be daunting to connect the dots back to accounts and other balances held on their behalf. This book is a great resource to help anyone in this situation get started.
PenChecks is grateful for the excellent work Mary Pitman has done to research and share important information that has the potential to help people across the country reclaim money that belongs to them. We are proud to support the distribution of this book and hope all that read it benefit by it - and pass it on!
Peter E. Preovolos, APA, RIA, AIFA, PPC
President/Director
PenChecks, Inc.
Alpha & Omega, Inc.
Linda had a string of bad events happen to her. Her mother died. Ten months later her husband died. Then someone broke into her son’s house and shot, but did not kill, his dog. Linda worked hard as an orthopedic nurse and also had a second job. I knew her because we worked together as RNs.
If anyone could use a break it was Linda.
I was working in the recovery room (where patients wake up from surgery) on a Saturday. They only keep one room going at a time on the weekend, so I had plenty of time between patients. I spent that time looking up friends, family and strangers on the missing money site. I was actually looking up a doctor who had stopped by that day. He had the same last name as Linda. I entered the last name and city, and was surprised when Linda’s name popped up. She had money from an insurance policy, but no amount was listed.
Linda was off that day, but I promised myself that I’d surprise her with the information the next time we worked together. I went up to her floor a few days later.
“I have this hobby,” I said. “I like to find money for people on the missing money site. And I found a listing for you.” I handed her the paper.
She looked at it, and then looked away. It was a combination of almost crying and being nearly speechless.
“Mary, I’ve been getting calls and letters from attorneys and firms saying that I had money but they all want a lot of money to help me get it,” she explained. “I was determined to find this on my own, but I didn’t know where to begin.” She went on to say that one person wanted $700. Another wanted $2,100.
I was appalled that people would be forced to pay what I considered a ransom to get their own money. I assured her I would do everything I could to help her.
As I walked away, I realized she was not alone. There were many more people like her. That was the moment I decided to put all the search tips that I had discovered over the past several years, into a book.
Linda, in the meantime, did a basic search to see if she had other listings. She did. That inspired her to share the information about missing money with the other nurses on her floor. Many of them found money too.
Several weeks later, Linda called me from the post office. “Mary, I have checks in front of me for $63.50, $100, $55.84, and $2,339.80. I’ve been out of work. I fell and broke my arm in three places. I don’t have insurance. I didn’t know how I was going to pay my rent,” she said, sobbing with relief.
Linda’s four checks, totaling $2,559.14, came from a refund, a credit balance, a savings account and a group policy benefit.
In the search process, Linda discovered that her mother had American Express stock from her years as an employee there. The stock, valued at $7,200 at the time, has since grown in value to $7,800. The finder’s fee rose to $2,700.
By working with the transfer agent, she learned that she will have to pay probate costs of $285 before the funds will be released.
My initial research for this book centered on individual states. I found multiple ways that names are recorded. The thing is, if you don’t enter the name exactly as it’s recorded, you’ll never find the listing.
I found additional places beyond the state unclaimed property sites. Every time I found one, I thought “I should include this in my book but it doesn’t fit with what I’m doing.” When I tapped into unclaimed child support payments, I knew I had to rethink my concept for the book.
As I continued my research, I came across many questions people were asking and problems they were encountering in their search for unclaimed money. I decided to find the answers to those questions. This book is the result of that quest.
All of the sites I refer to are free to search and free to claim, just like the state sites. I do mention some fee-based services that will help you with specific issues. I am not affiliated with any of them; nor do I get referral fees. In fact, they don’t know that I am including them in this book.
I hope you find lots of money, not only for yourself, but also for friends and family. When you start sharing this information, you’ll understand the joy I get from helping people. There’s nothing like it.
Happy treasure hunting!
Mary Pitman
Could you use some extra cash? Are you afraid of getting ripped off? Is this whole missing money thing a scam?
Relax! I’m on your side.
I’ve made it easy to find legitimate sites that don’t charge you. You’ll soon see that there are many places besides the state unclaimed property sites where you might find forgotten funds for family, friends or yourself.
You’ll find the answers to common questions such as:
I consider myself a consumer advocate on this topic. I wrote the book because my friend was being solicited by finders that wanted fees from $700-$2,100 to help her search for missing money. I felt that was like having to pay a ransom to get your own money.
Keep this book handy because new unclaimed property listings are added all the time to the sites I’ve listed. Check at least once a year.
What are you waiting for? Start looking!
There are four terms you need to be familiar with as you go through this book.
Escheat refers to items that have met the state inactivity period, generally about 3-5 years. The state then gets possession of them.
Pre-escheat is that period of time between the start of inactivity (or dormancy) to when it gets turned over to the state. It is when the items are the hardest (but not impossible) to find.
Holder refers to the company that has the money that needs to be turned over to the state.
Owner is the person to whom the money ultimately belongs.
Fun Fact
2.5 million claims totaling $2.25 billion
were paid in FY 2011 as a result of
state unclaimed property efforts.
freewww.unclaimed.orgwww.unclaimed.orgwww.missingmoney.com