....................
Money Tips for
Small Businesses
INSIDE
8................
Added Protections
For Credit Records 12..........
News Briefs
Countering Confusion
Over Investment Sales 14.....
13
News and Information On Consumer Issues from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Illustration by T.W.Ballard, FDIC Graphics
A guide to finding your lost or forgotten bank accounts, jewelry and other valuables
Can you find the
in this picture... and in your own financial picture?
FALL 1996
Money Tips for
Small Businesses
INSIDE
8................
Added Protections
For Credit Records 12..........
News Briefs
Countering Confusion
Over Investment Sales 14.....
13
News and Information On Consumer Issues from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Illustration by T.W.Ballard, FDIC Graphics
A guide to finding your lost or forgotten bank accounts, jewelry and other valuables
Can you find the
in this picture... and in your own financial picture?
FALL 1996
2
If you’re Ann Roman (also known as
Ruth Doorman) of Chester, New
York, or if you’re an heir to her
estate, we recommend that you run,
not walk, to the near est telephone to
call the New York State Office of
Unclaimed Funds. Don’t worry if it’s
a long-distance call; you can af ford
it. That’s because New York has a
substantial amount of money (we’r e
prevented from saying just how
much) waiting in bank accounts,
investments and other assets
abandoned by Ms. Roman in the
mid-1980s.
Even if you’re not Ann Roman or her
heir, we suggest you keep r eading.
This report can help direct you to
lost or forgotten property, from a
small sum ($100) to a small for tune
(like the $900,000 in unclaimed
assets New York recently paid to the
European heirs of a for mer New
York City resident).
According to published reports, state
agencies across America may be
holding $8 billion in abandoned
bank accounts, investments and
other assets, while Federal agencies
could have about $18 billion in
unclaimed funds. These dollar
amounts may even be too low —
and they don’t include forgotten
funds still held at U.S. businesses or
the money American citizens have
left behind in foreign countries (see
our story on Page 6).
All sorts of property gets
abandoned. At banking institutions,
the list includes checking and
savings accounts as well as jewelr y
and other valuables in safe deposit
boxes. Investments usually involve
mutual funds, stocks, bonds
(including U.S. Savings Bonds),
along with interest and dividend
checks. Frequent flyer miles are
frequently forgotten, as are
paychecks, retirement and disability
checks, life insurance policies, gift
certificates, money orders, cashier’s
checks, traveler’s checks, and rent
and utility deposits.
But how can you “lose” these assets
in the first place? It’s easier than
you think. You could have moved
away, never given a for warding
address and forgotten about the
money. You could have changed
your name and not notified your
banks and other companies. You
may be unaware of the money
entirely — perhaps because it was
given to you as a child or you
inherited it — and now the people
who have it for you can’ t track you
down. Or you could have lost
financial records in a flood, fir e or
even a spring-cleaning binge.
The rules governing unclaimed bank
accounts vary from state to state.
But in general, after about two or
more years without activity —
you’ve made no deposits or
withdrawals, you haven’t cashed a
check — and after ef forts to reach
you fail, the property will be
considered abandoned and will
“escheat” (a fancy legal ter m for
being transferred) to the state of your
last known address.
Hidden Assets: Out of Sight...Out of Mind...Out of Luck?
Not if you follow our tips for finding some of the billions of dollars
in lost or forgotten money that could belong to you
Hidden Assets
Massachusetts state employees display
a printout of the names of owners to
whom property recently was returned.
Robert J. Levy/Pennsylvania Treasury
Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe
A beaming Verla Read Phillips is about to
receive a $26,867 check fr om Pennsylvania
treasurer Catherine Baker Knoll. She first
spotted her name on a list of unclaimed
property owners in her local newspaper.
FDIC
If you’re Ann Roman (also known as
Ruth Doorman) of Chester, New
York, or if you’re an heir to her
estate, we recommend that you run,
not walk, to the near est telephone to
call the New York State Office of
Unclaimed Funds. Don’t worry if it’s
a long-distance call; you can af ford
it. That’s because New York has a
substantial amount of money (we’r e
prevented from saying just how
much) waiting in bank accounts,
investments and other assets
abandoned by Ms. Roman in the
mid-1980s.
Even if you’re not Ann Roman or her
heir, we suggest you keep r eading.
This report can help direct you to
lost or forgotten property, from a
small sum ($100) to a small for tune
(like the $900,000 in unclaimed
assets New York recently paid to the
European heirs of a for mer New
York City resident).
According to published reports, state
agencies across America may be
holding $8 billion in abandoned
bank accounts, investments and
other assets, while Federal agencies
could have about $18 billion in
unclaimed funds. These dollar
amounts may even be too low —
and they don’t include forgotten
funds still held at U.S. businesses or
the money American citizens have
left behind in foreign countries (see
our story on Page 6).
All sorts of property gets
abandoned. At banking institutions,
the list includes checking and
savings accounts as well as jewelr y
and other valuables in safe deposit
boxes. Investments usually involve
mutual funds, stocks, bonds
(including U.S. Savings Bonds),
along with interest and dividend
checks. Frequent flyer miles are
frequently forgotten, as are
paychecks, retirement and disability
checks, life insurance policies, gift
certificates, money orders, cashier’s
checks, traveler’s checks, and rent
and utility deposits.
But how can you “lose” these assets
in the first place? It’s easier than
you think. You could have moved
away, never given a for warding
address and forgotten about the
money. You could have changed
your name and not notified your
banks and other companies. You
may be unaware of the money
entirely — perhaps because it was
given to you as a child or you
inherited it — and now the people
who have it for you can’ t track you
down. Or you could have lost
financial records in a flood, fir e or
even a spring-cleaning binge.
The rules governing unclaimed bank
accounts vary from state to state.
But in general, after about two or
more years without activity —
you’ve made no deposits or
withdrawals, you haven’t cashed a
check — and after ef forts to reach
you fail, the property will be
considered abandoned and will
“escheat” (a fancy legal ter m for
being transferred) to the state of your
last known address.
Hidden Assets: Out of Sight...Out of Mind...Out of Luck?
Not if you follow our tips for finding some of the billions of dollars
in lost or forgotten money that could belong to you
Hidden Assets
Massachusetts state employees display
a printout of the names of owners to
whom property recently was returned.
Robert J. Levy/Pennsylvania Treasury
Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe
A beaming Verla Read Phillips is about to
receive a $26,867 check fr om Pennsylvania
treasurer Catherine Baker Knoll. She first
spotted her name on a list of unclaimed
property owners in her local newspaper.
FDIC