State seeks those entitled to $37.5 million in unclaimed property
To learn more
If you see your name on Pages 98-12B of today's Janesville Gazette, you can request a claim form online at www.statetreasury.wisconsin.gov or by calling the Office of the State Treasurer at 1-877-699-9211.
Even if your name isn't on the current list, State Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass encourages you to visit the much larger state database at the Web site.
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Dawn Marie Sass
JANESVILLE — Dawn Marie Sass said it's likely the 1,200 Rock County residents whose names are printed in today's Janesville Gazette could use their share of millions of dollars in unclaimed property.
After all, the state treasurer said, the property is only a phone call or online visit away.
Each year, the state publishes the names of people who have unclaimed property. This year, the state is printing the names of 54,000 Wisconsinites who have a share in $37.5 million in unclaimed property.
Unclaimed property can be checks, utility deposits, security deposits, stocks, bonds, dividend checks and items found in abandoned safe deposit boxes. After a business has held unclaimed property for a number of years, it must turn it over to the state treasurer where it is held until the rightful owner comes forward.
Sass said the vault in her office is lined with uncashed savings bonds and paychecks, dividend proceeds from long-lost life insurance policies and other sorts of valuables.
"We've got stamp collections, watches, all kinds of jewelry," Sass said. "We don't keep too much cash lying around; that gets deposited on the person's behalf."
Last year, the state paidout a record $28 million in unclaimed property to more than 25,000 claimants.
"We have assets which belong to citizens in every city and village across the state," Sass said.
Pages 9B through 12B of today's Gazette includes the names of 1,200 residents or business added to the state's database in 2008.
But that's the tip of the iceberg, said Sass, who each year spends weekends traveling to each of the state's 72 counties to make people aware of the unclaimed property.
The state maintains on online database that holds more than 30 years' worth of unclaimed property for more than 1 million people or businesses. The total of the unclaimed property tops $352 million.
For Rock County, the database has nearly 30,000 names of people who own property valued at more than $4 million.
Many people see the state's annual listings of unclaimed property but don't take any action because they think it's a scam, Sass said.
"It's not a scam, but it can seem a little daunting," she said. "At first glance, there's a lot of printing and disclaimers, but it's not at all that bad.
"All they have to do is prove to us that they lived at the address listed, and they can claim the property."
May 7, 2009 at 6:58 p.m.
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Please go to the web site and check out your name. I came up with 2 hits. I had no idea there was anything out there.
May 7, 2009 at 11:52 a.m.
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It pays to peruse the whole list of names too. A friend let me know my name was on a list in Kansas. (Unclaimed insurance check for hail damage.) A couple forms later and a $400 check was in my paws. Woo hoo! >^,^<
May 7, 2009 at 11:38 a.m.
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A piece of advice, however! A lot of these are unclaimed because of misspellings! If you have a last name that's easily scrambled, try different variations on the website. If you try and type in "unclaimed" as the first name at the site, it'll bring up "too many results" so you know a lot of it is human error. It was amazing how many Associated Bank accounts are listed with poorly entered information. You'd think a BANK would be able to keep accurate records. It's actually scary when you think about it.
May 7, 2009 at 11:33 a.m.
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I actually found my name on a CA unclaimed property website (I'd lived there more than nine years ago). I was able to dig up some old paperwork with the correct address on it. That and a copy of my driver's license was all it took to get the check. It wasn't a large amount, but well worth the postage and time spent.
May 7, 2009 at 9:28 a.m.
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Dawn Sass? (Treasurer)
Is that her real name????
May 7, 2009 at 3:41 a.m.
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thats cool
May 6, 2009 at 10:28 p.m.
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prevention, the link is in the sidebar (upper left). It is a State of Wisconsin agency, not a part of the county, though.
May 6, 2009 at 8:48 p.m.
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Last year we found some unclaimed money from my mother in laws estate. It was a small amount of stocks that were part of her insurance policy. It was very easy to send in the required info and claim our 1/5 th share. It didn't add up to much once it was cashed in, but it bought us a very nice anniversary dinner and night out on the town.
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I suggest everyone check it out. You never know there may be money out there with your name on it.
May 6, 2009 at 8:25 p.m.
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For those that don't get the printed Gazette, the website to register for unclaimed property is www.statetreasury.wisconsin.gov/ucpweb/u...
May 6, 2009 at 6:58 p.m.
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HEADLINE "State Seeks" is kind of misleading. It does not seek if it has to find Mercy Health care systems many times.
May 6, 2009 at 5:13 p.m.
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I went to the website mentioned here in the article a while ago and found hubbys name. We ended up getting almost $1,000.00 back. Click on the link under *to learn more* and it will take you right to the place you need to be and you can type in your name.
May 6, 2009 at 5:02 p.m.
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Okay, for those of us that don't get the printed version, is there a county website we can go to to determine if we are one of those names?
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