(Part 1 of 2)

In May 2007, Illinois State Treasurer State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias announced that the state's "Cash Dash" program is holding nearly $1.4 Billion in Illinois unclaimed money. The only thing standing between the cash and its rightful owners is the knowledge that it's out there waiting to be claimed and the knowledge to track it down.

Sadly beyond just Illinois, state treasury departments across the nation continue to take in more unclaimed property every year than they hand back to the rightful owners. Because everyone believes in the old "if it's too good to be true" saying, the majority of people do not believe that there are really tens of billions of dollars waiting to be claimed across the country. Even for those few who have come to accept the truth about unclaimed cash, the best way to find these monies eludes them in most cases.

The Prairie is State is one of those rare states that is holding over 1 billion dollars on its own, which means if you are a resident of Illinois then you have even greater odds of locating a claim in your name, especially after you consider that the state has less than 13 million people and there are over 10 million names on the state's Illinois database.

Although there are many more, Illinois lists the following as the most common types of missing money: abandoned savings and checking accounts, unpaid wages or commissions, stock, bonds, mutual funds, un-cashed dividends, customer deposits or overpayments, credit balances, refunds, money orders, travelers checks, paid-up life insurance policies, safe deposit box contents. People who have had or know someone who may have had one of these accounts at one time or another is encouraged to search regularly.

The Illinois State Treasury has given back more than $432 million since it took control of the unclaimed property program in 1999, 84 million dollars of which was returned in 2006 alone, but with $1.4 Billion waiting to be claimed and more coming in every year, the heap of cash will continue to grow.

(to be continued)

–

Find Unclaimed Cash & Property – msnbc.com
WYFF 4.com Every state in the United States, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands have unclaimed property programs that actively find owners of lost and forgotten assets. Unclaimed property laws …

Hollywood guilds hold $150 million in unclaimed royalties – YAHOO!
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Hollywood's guilds, unions and collection societies are sitting on a gold mine of unclaimed residuals and royalties. They're holding more than $150 million for tens of …

Unclaimed funds could go to county residents
Ohio Department of Commerce Director Kimberly Zurz urges Wood County residents to join in the 2010 Unclaimed Funds Treasure Hunt by checking the Sentinel-Tribune on Tuesday to find out if they are entitled to unclaimed funds turned over to the Ohio Division of Unclaimed Funds in the past year. Unclaimed funds are money or the rights to money that have been dormant or forgotten. Some common …

Free Unclaimed Money Search for Lost Inheritance – Associated Content
If you're looking for a free unclaimed inheritance search , not only will sites like Missing Money make a huge difference, it's important to know which sites NOT to use: the paid sites. Heirs never have to pay …

Crime victims leave $11 million unclaimed in state account – San Jose Mercury News
LODI — California crime victims have left $11 million sitting in a state account, often because the victims don't know they are entitled to the restitution paid by convicted criminals. Corrections department …