Did you know you might find a windfall by checking this website for property ($) you may have…read moreforgotten to claim?
I got a letter from a company that said that a real estate company I was associated with years ago might have unclaimed funds, and they would handle the paperwork to recover the funds for a fee. As you might suspect, those companies are not going to send a letter to every TDH (Tom, Dick, or Harry) since that would not be financially feasible. They troll (the verb, not the noun) such websites beforehand and contact the people and companies which have unclaimed funds, so that should alert you to check the website on your own.
Through the power of Google, I searched "State Of Hawaii Unclaimed Property" and discovered that the company I was affiliated had over $14,200 in unclaimed property from an insurance company !!!
What happened is that when the real estate company sold the building which was its sole asset (other than me, LOL) mid-policy year, the managing agent failed to obtain a refund from the insurance company for the unearned pre-paid annual property casualty insurance. Although the managing agent moved, and could easily be located, I guess the insurance company makes very little or no effort to locate those who are entitled to a refund, and just turns such funds over to the State as is required by law. Now, the building was sold seven years ago, so that money was sitting out of our hands for that long.
It's not that easy to get the funds back. The State makes you jump through the hoops to get the funds, which is warranted. All kinds of paperwork must be provided to assert your claim and confirm your identity. So like a tired old dog that really didn't want to jump so high, I gathered up all the paper: Articles of Incorporation, official filings showing old address in the notice filed by the insurance company, current address of the company, proof of relationship with the managing agent and the insurance company, copy of corporate officer's ID, and additional items as required.
Then the claimant (company officer) needs to get his signature on the claim notarized if the claim is $50.00 or more.
I will be mailing in the claim soon, but armed with inspiration of this windfall, I started searching several names of people close to me. I actually found an unrecovered item for me personally, in the amount of $41.60. What happened was that in 2003, someone gave me a large Cartier wallet, and I exchanged it for a smaller wallet which was $40.00 less (now, I have to this day still not used that smaller wallet). So Cartier Ala Moana gave me a credit for the amount plus 4% GET, and the credit has been sitting in my drawer since then. But apparently, the USA parent company of Cartier turned the funds into the State, even though I never received notice from Cartier, and my address on the claim is the same as my current address. So I can get the cash instead of using the credit to purchase some expensive item which I will not use. Sweet !!
Some of the people I know had unrecovered property ranging from $160.00 to $1.00, so I notified them to check the website and jump through the hoops themselves to recover the funds. One of my friends had a unrecovered item which was $0.01. I don't think he will be asking for that money since postage and his time is probably worth more than that.
Go check out the website yourself. For you and your family and friends. You might find a lot more cash than you would rummaging through your sofa cushions, and will not have to deal with lint and other stuff lurking therein.
https://unclaimedproperty.ehawaii.gov/lilo/app
You can thank me later.