Claim Missing Money With Found Money®

There are over $200 million worth of unclaimed property held in the State of Kansas according to Dennis Mckinney’s office of the Treasury.

In these unclaimed property accounts, you will find inactive savings and checking accounts, un-cashed checks, stock shares and bonds, dividend checks, insurance proceeds, mineral royalties and utility deposits. Many unclaimed items do not have to be reported as unclaimed for 5-25 years, however, cash, stocks and bonds and safe deposit boxes must be reported unclaimed on an annual basis, says Palonek, founder of a unclaimed money and asset search service called foundmoney.com, where people can search their names and the names of friends and relatives to see if they have any unclaimed cash that can be claimed.

Many people seem to forget about these unclaimed monies, in fact, there are over 15 thousand safety deposit boxes waiting for the rightful owners to make a claim. There are around 600 boxes that go unclaimed each year and Palonek would like to help reunite Kansans with their financial assets.

According to the State Office in 2009 over $20 million dollars were reported unclaimed and over 50% of that was returned to their rightful owners.
“During these very difficult economic times, taking action now could put much needed money in the pockets of thousands of Kansans” says Palonek. Searching for unclaimed money couldn’t be easier, simply go to www.foundmoney.com and start your search for you a family member or a friend.

Unclaimed property in the State of Indiana is generally held by the State for 25 years. During that period, individuals may search for unclaimed property at www.foundmoney.com, a website that helps to reunite people with their lost or forgotten money. According to Edward Palonek, founder of foundmoney.com, his was the first company to make a search mechanism available on a Web Site for everyone to search for unclaimed property. Found Money was started in 1994 and specializes in unclaimed assets and has reunited thousands of people with their lost and forgotten money.

There are nearly 2 million pieces of property sitting unclaimed in Indiana that represents approximately $383 million dollars. Hoosiers have 25 years to make a claim for the unclaimed property otherwise they no longer can and all that money becomes the property of the State of Indiana.
Securities valued at over $150 million, account for most of the unclaimed assets with uncashed checks coming in second and are valued at over $68 million. Unclaimed wages are next in line at almost $60 million and unclaimed insurance is close behind at over $51 million. The fewest number of unclaimed properties is found to be unclaimed Safe Deposit Boxes which amount to $272,000.

“What is really surprising however is that since 2006 the number of people making a claim has been steadily declining. In 2006 over $54 million was returned to Hoosiers, but sharply declined in 2007 to just over $37 million and then to almost $35 million in 2008”, says Edward Palonek
“During these very difficult economic times, taking action now could put much needed money in the pockets of thousands of Hoosiers and others” says Palonek. In fact over 3,000 people are owned more that $10,000 each, in the State of Indiana while almost 21,000 residents are owed between $500 and $2,000 each.
These unclaimed assets come from Stocks and Bonds, Checks, Wages/Payroll, Insurance, Court Deposits, Accounts, Utilities, Trusts, Mineral Interests and Safety Deposits Boxes in Banks. Don’t delay in starting your search at foundmoney.com for unclaimed money, you may be richer than you think.

Americans are reminded that they could be eligible for a rebate of up to 50% of the Canadian GST/HST paid on eligible tour packages to non-resident/tourists visiting Canada for the Olympic Games. This rebate is also available to non-resident businesses or organizations that buy eligible tour packages for the use of non-resident employees or clients. In addition, this rebate is available to non-resident non-registered tour operators that buy, and then resell, eligible tour packages.
Americans and other non-residents that are not registered and that are not tour operators, for example, businesses or organizations, can claim a rebate of up to 50% of the GST/HST paid on an eligible tour package if all the conditions listed below are met (unless the registrant supplier has already paid or credited the rebate amount to the tour operator).
• The non-resident is not purchasing the eligible tour package for resale in the ordinary course of a business of selling tour packages.
• The accommodation included in the eligible tour package is made available to a non-resident individual.
• The person claiming the rebate is a non-resident of Canada at the time the rebate claim is filed.
• The non-resident submits the rebate claim to the CRA within one year after the last day any GST/HST included in the claim became payable. Generally, the day the tax becomes payable is the day the amount is paid or the date of the invoice, whichever comes first.
• The non-resident includes all required supporting documents with its rebate claim.
Non-residents can receive a rebate for eligible tour packages by:
• filing a rebate claim with the CRA; or
• being paid or credited the rebate amount by a registrant supplier, such as a Canadian tour operator, at the point of sale if certain conditions are met.
If the registrant supplier does not pay or credit the rebate amount at the point of sale, the non-resident can file form GST115, GST/HST Rebate Application for Tour Packages with the Canada Revenue Agency.
This form is found at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/gf/gst176/gst176-07e.pdf. Non-residents must file the rebate claim within one year after the last day on which any tax included in the claim became payable, and must include the required supporting documents to prove that they qualify for the rebate.
Edward Palonek from FoundMoney.com says, “these refunds could amount to hundreds of dollars for each tourist to the Olympics. If Americans do not send in a claim form, it will amount to quite a bit on money that will simply become unclaimed cash”.

Mr. Palonek, is the founder of Foundmoney.com, a company that helps reunite people with their lost or forgotten money. Found Money was started in 1994 and specializes in unclaimed money and has reunited thousands of people with their lost and forgotten money.
Upon returning home from the Olympics, “Many folks could use some extra cash to pay of those credit card bills, so why leave that extra unclaimed cash behind” says Palonek.
To search for your name visit foundmoney.com’s website and you could find that unexpected gift full of cash.

Palonek reminds Mississippians and others they have 3 years to file their tax returns to make sure they collect refund money owed to them by the IRS.
It’s that time of year again when everyone is thinking about filing their tax returns and the ones that do not, can be missing out on a fair amount of refunds from the federal government.
In cases where a return was not filed, the law provides most taxpayers with a three-year window of opportunity for claiming a refund. If no return is filed to claim the refund within three years, the money becomes unclaimed property of the U.S. Treasury. For 2006 returns, the window closes on April 15, 2010. The law requires that the return be properly addressed, postmarked and mailed by that date. There is no penalty assessed by the IRS for filing a late return qualifying for a refund.
According to U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., in 2008 t he Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is holding more than $10 million in unclaimed refunds for over 12,000 Mississippians who did not file a federal tax return in 2005. For 2009 those number can be even higher. “I strongly encourage every Mississippian to check their records and make sure that they received their 2005 federal tax refund,” said Sen. Wicker.
The April 15th deadline is approaching, so those who did not file in 2006 should act. You can do so with no penalty from the IRS and still claim your refund.
The IRS estimates that the average Mississippian who is eligible for a refund would receive about $500. Some individuals may not have filed because they had too little income to require filing a tax return even though they had taxes withheld from their wages or made quarterly estimated payments.
The IRS reminds taxpayers seeking a 2006 refund that their unclaimed checks will be held if they have not filed tax returns for 2007 or 2008. In addition, the unclaimed refund will be applied to any amounts still owed to the IRS and may be used to satisfy unpaid child support or past due federal debts such as student loans.
By failing to file a return, individuals stand to lose more than refunds of taxes withheld or paid during 2006. Many low-income workers may not have claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and which gives them even more unclaimed cash.
“During these very difficult economic times, taking action now could put much needed money in the pockets of thousands of Mississippians and others” says Palonek, founder of a unclaimed money and asset search service called foundmoney.com, where people can search their names and the names of friends and relatives to see if they have any unclaimed cash that can be claimed.
According to Palonek, some of the unclaimed assets come from Banks, insurance companies, energy and telephone utilities and companies paying oil royalties. Money, stock or other financial instruments that have been dormant at institutions, or checks and refunds that could not be delivered to the right party, eventually must be turned over to the state. Don’t delay in starting your search at www.foundmoney.com for unclaimed money, you may be richer than you think.

In most states, unclaimed property can be claimed by the rightful owners or their heirs, indefinitely. However, some states have enacted legislation where they are able to keep the unclaimed money and not return it to the owner after a certain period on time. Idaho is one such state.
In 2007, Idaho made a change to their unclaimed property law that allows them to take permanent ownership of the unclaimed property if it has remained unclaimed for 10 years or more.
“More and more states may start to do this in order to help pay down their deficits. This amounts to millions and millions of dollars that are lost forever and can never be re-claimed”, says Palonek, founder of Foundmoney.com, a company specializing in helping people find unclaimed money since 1994.
Edward Palonek would like to help return as much of that unclaimed money to the rightful owners before the Idaho government takes permanent possession of it.
According to Idaho State records, they collected over $9.7 million in unclaimed property in 2009, while almost $12.8 was collected in 2008. Of that over $7.9 million was distributed in 2009 and over $7.2 million in 2008. In total, Idaho currently has over $51 million dollars waiting to be collected by its citizens.
Finding some of these unclaimed assets couldn’t be simpler according to Edward Palonek, “all that is needed is a computer or access to one and go to foundmoney.com to see if you or a relative or a friend has any of this unclaimed cash”.
To avoid having you money and other valuable assets become unclaimed:
- Make sure to keep your records active through customer-initiated contact with the holder of the account, such as at banks, at least once every two years.
- Keep accurate and current records of all accounts, insurance policies, GIC’s safe deposit boxes, stocks and bonds.
- Tell family members of the location of your accounts and make sure to alert businesses that hold your assets whenever you move.

According to the research and advisory firm TowerGroup, gift cards will fall slightly in 2009 to about $87 billion. Out of this $87 billion approximately 10% will become unused either because they have been lost or because they have expired.
In 2009 according to the National Retail Federation (“NRF”), gift cards remained the most requested holiday item for 2009 with most cards averaging $140.
New regulations under the Credit Card Accountability and Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act will now limit Fees on Gift and Stored Value Cards. The Act enhances disclosure on fees for gift and stored value cards and restricts inactivity fees unless the card has been inactive for at least 12 months. The new Act will also require that cards be given at least five years of transaction capability before expiration. What the act does not do however, is ensuring that gift cards do not lose value when a retailer files for bankruptcy and it does not allow for the possibility that a card holder may dispute a transaction such as the case with credit or debit cards.
During these tough economic times, states are looking for all forms of new revenue and many of them are turning towards collecting abandoned and unused gift cards. Although attempts are made to try to locate some of these accounts, in most cases there is limited information about the purchaser of the gift cards since the name and address of the purchaser is not required. As a result the states and the retailer get these wind falls at the expense of the consumer. In New York State for example, the WSJ reports that they collected $9.6 million in unused gift cards in 2008.
“These are huge numbers but there is some relief for a few lucky people” says Palonek, founder of Foundmoney.com, who helps reunite people with their lost or forgotten money and was the first company on the Internet to do so. Foundmoney.com is a company that was started in 1994 and specializes in unclaimed money and has reunited thousands of people with their lost and forgotten money.
Many folks could use some extra cash right now to start to pay down some credit card bills from the holidays. A quick and easy way is to simply do an online web search at www.foundmoney.com. There you can check to see if you, a loved one, friend or neighbor has some unclaimed money just sitting there waiting for its rightful owner to make a claim for this cash.
To make sure that your gift cards do not make it to the State or from being reported as income on some company’s balance sheet, if they become unused, make every attempt to use the card before the expiry date.

The Christmas season has ended and now the New Year has begun. If you are retired or about to retire this is the time to make sure that you are receiving or about to receive all your pension money. You would be surprised to learn that there are over $100 million in Lost Pension Benefits. These are pensions from terminated defined benefit pension plans.

“Although the vast majority of workers receive their full pension, sometimes people lost track of benefits earned with former employers,” said Vince Snowbarger, Interim Director of the PBGC. “The Pension Search directory helps workers find retirement money they are entitled to but cannot locate.”
The unclaimed benefits for over 30,000 pensioners range from as little as a few dollars to over $600,000, while the average is around $5,000.

“That’s a lot of money for someone not claiming especially in these tough economic times” says, Edward Palonek, founder of Foundmoney.com, a company specializing in helping people find unclaimed money, since 1994. What’s further amazing according to Palonek, is that “Pensioners are completely unaware that there may be some unclaimed pension money out there in their name waiting to be claimed”

The States that have the highest number of missing pensioners and Lost Money are New York at approx. 7,000 pensioners and $38 million unclaimed pension money, California at approx. 3,000 pensioners and $7 million, New Jersey at approx. 2,000 pensioners and $12 million, Texas at approx. 2,000 pensioners and $7 million, Pennsylvania at approx. 2,000 pensioners and $10 million, Illinois at approx. 1,500 pensioners and $9 million and finally Florida at approx. 1,500 pensioners and $7 million.
Finding these unclaimed pensioner money is as simple as clicking your computer mouse and conducting a search for your name or that of someone you know, says Palonek. The online service is free and available 24 hours a day.

The unclaimed pension money is from approx. 6,600 companies, primarily in the airline, steel, transportation, machinery, retail trade, apparel and financial services industries that closed pension plans in which some former workers could not be found.
According to Palonek, many of the pensioners are workers with pensions whose former employers closed pension plans and distributed benefits. Others are workers or retirees missing from under-funded pension plans because the plans did not have enough money to pay benefits.
To avoid becoming a missing pensioner of unclaimed pension money, workers should tell their employers when they move or change names, and they should hold on to any pension information they receive from their employers.

Make sure not to write off the lost pension money as lost forever, you never know this may be the year that you find yourself richer that you think. What a great way to start of the New Year in 2010.