States escheat provisions (the turning over of unclaimed property to the state) for unused gift card balances has become big income for states general funds.  But beyond gift cards, companies in general are required to turn over unclaimed property to the states which then administer an unclaimed property database where consumers can look to see if there is anything that belongs to them.

With gift cards, this is a mostly futile exercise as most gift cards are not traceable to any particular name.

But with many other forms of unclaimed property, this is not the case.  Unclaimed property can take the form of a bank account which has laid dormant for many years, a credit balance on a utility account when you move, or pay from a former employer.  In all cases, the property is considered unclaimed because the company or organization with the funds does not have accurate contact information for the owner of the those funds.

When I first learned about unclaimed property databases, I searched for myself, everyone in my family, extended family, friends, etc., in all the states we currently live in or used to live in.  For my wife, I found $1,500 from a previous employer.  For my dad, I found $80 from an old utility account.  For my brother-in-laws sister, I found $1,000.  The point is, there is real money for real people in unclaimed property databases and the only thing keeping people from getting it back is educating people to look for it.

I highly recommend that everyone search for unclaimed property in their name.

To search for unclaimed property in any state, find the state’s unclaimed property website at www.unclaimed.org.  Go to that state’s unclaimed property website and enter your name for the search.  It is as simple as that!