(Part 1 of 2)

In May of 2007, IL State Treasurer State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias stated that the state's "Cash Dash" program currently holds almost 1.4 Billion dollars in Illinois unclaimed money. The only thing getting between the cash and its rightful owners is the knowledge that it is out there and the ability to track it down.

Sadly beyond just IL, state treasury departments across the nation keep on taking in more unclaimed property every year than they hand back to the people. Because everyone believes in the old "if it's too good to be true" saying, the majority of people refuse to believe that there are really tens of billions of dollars that can be claimed across the country. Even for those few who have learned the truth about unclaimed properties, the best way to find these monies eludes them in most cases.

The Prairie is State is one of only a few states that holds over a billion dollars on its own, and that means that if you are a resident of IL then you have even greater odds of tracking down a claim in your name, especially when you consider that the state has less than 13 million people and there are over 10 million names on the state's IL database.

(to be continued)

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Ky. Treasurer pitching unclaimed property – Lexington Herald-Leader
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. — Kentucky Treasurer Todd Hollenbach came away amazed after watching people in eastern Kentucky pick up unclaimed property. "Times are tight," Hollenbach said. "You would be amazed at how thrilled people were. They may have …

Roseville Man Finds People's Unclaimed Money (WCCO Minneapolis – St. Paul)
The state of Minnesota is sitting on an enormous pile of unclaimed cash. At last accounting, it was valued at slightly more than $300 million. Now, a retired Roseville man is out to prove that finding the rightful owners isn't that hard.

Thrift stores: another way for families to save money – Daily News
Described as a veritable gold mine of unclaimed wealth, most thrift stores of today are clean, have good lighting and items in good condition – and for a fraction of the retail price. According to the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops …

Death in the Recession: More Bodies Left Unburied (Time Magazine)
As times get tougher, more survivors are leaving the bodies of their loved ones unclaimed, unburied and uncremated — and strapped local governments are finding it harder to handle the corpses

Personal Finance: Finding unclaimed money – Sacramento Bee
Our recent story on hunting for long-lost money from the state controller's office struck a chord. The call volume from Californians looking for billions in unclaimed property – everything from utility refunds to forgotten bank accounts or stock …