In these tough economic times.. who couldn’t use a little ‘free’ money?
The state is holding millions of dollars in unclaimed property – and you could be the rightful owner to some of that cash.

ACTION NEWS INVESTIGATOR HEATHER CATALLO HAS THE STORY IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ON THE RIGHT.

[HEATHER]
A lot of people don’t realize that an old bank account… or an un-cashed paycheck.. could be waiting for you to claim right now.
In the last fiscal year alone, the state paid out more than $55 million dollars to people… and you could have some money just sitting out there, waiting to be claimed.

Bricks of silver, gold coins, collectibles, jewelry, and cold hard cash…
Those are just some of the items being held by the Michigan Department of Treasury’s unclaimed property division.

Since 1988 – the state has handled about $1.2 billion dollars in unclaimed property.

[Gonzalo Llano/Michigan Dept. of Treasury] “The state never takes ownership of these funds. The state is simply a custodian for these funds.”

So how do you lose track of your own money?

[Gonzalo Llano/Michigan Dept. of Treasury] “Most of what we receive is money, representing uncashed checks, dormant bank account, proceeds from insurance policies.”

Gonzalo Llano is the administrator of the state treasury’s unclaimed property division. He says often, a relative will have a safe deposit box at their bank, but when they pass away… the heirs are never told about the box.
That means the items inside.. end up with the treasury department.
While the state has inventoried everything from dolls to sports collectibles to items from World War II… most of what ends up in the treasury is – money.

[Gonzalo Llano/Michigan Dept. of Treasury] “If we have money for them today, they can make a claim today, or 30 years from now, and the money will still be there.”

So how do you know if the state has some of your money? Michigan has created a website that can you can use to search your name.

I wanted to find out just how easy it is to find unclaimed property…

[Heather with Carlos Capers – searching his name] “Here’s where we are, we’re on the department of treasury website, and there’s an unclaimed property division.”

So I set up shop inside Warren’s Community Center… and invited people to search the state website with me.

[Heather with John Jeffire] “You can type your name in, and let’s see what we find. Keep your fingers crossed! Oooh – Nothing. Nothing yet! But – hold on, hold on, do not lose faith yet! JJ: I’m losing faith. Let’s just try doing just your last name. Cause – you might find a relative?”

I didn’t have any luck finding any money for John Jeffire from Clinton Township.

[Heather] “Ooh – ouch – nothing!”

But I did find some money for John’s brother when I ran his name on a national website, Missingmoney.com.

“Oh so my brother’s got some money out there? You going to tell him about that? Oooh – if he splits it! Goes 50/50 with it!”

Chester Buc from Warren had similar luck… with a relative.

[Chester Buc w/ HC] “Know any of these people? Stacey Buc! Who’s that? That’s my daughter - what’s she doing in there? Well, it looks like Peoples State Bank owes your daughter some money, and the state of Michigan is holding on to it.”

Sharon Reid hit the unclaimed property jackpot, so to speak.

[Sharon Reid/HC] “Is that you, in Warren? Yeah, I’m in Warren.”

I helped Sharon find her name. She’s not sure how much money might be there, but everyone listed on the states website has at least $50 in unclaimed property.

[Sharon Reid/Found Money] “Oh, it’s really great. 50 dollars is a whole family outing, especially with the gas now.”

Once you find your name, you have to download some forms from the state’s website, prove your identity to the treasury department… and your money will be back in your pocket. State officials say the process usually takes about 90 days if you’re claiming property for yourself… longer if you’re filing a claim for a relative.

And there’s something else you should know about – Fee Finders.

[Gonzalo Llano/Michigan Dept. of Treasury] “What they will do is try to contact the property owners or heirs, and for a fee, try to collect the monies on their behalf.”

Gonzalo Llano says those fees often range from 20 to 40 percent. And you don’t need a fee finder – just do your own free web search and collect 100% of your unclaimed property.

[Edwin Bara/Searched for Unclaimed Property] “It’s great for people who are out of jobs right now. They can use the money.”

[HEATHER]
If you would like to search for your name to see if you have any unclaimed property, just click on the links below.