Are You Richer Than You Think?
Financial Fitness Week features unclaimed assets database
Thursday, May 8, 2008
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Durham, NC -- Finances are often difficult to track – moving, changing jobs and changing bank accounts can increase the chance that individuals may lose track of their money.
But the North Carolina Department of the State Treasurer is here to help.
The department holds nearly $700 million in unclaimed property. With 1 million properties in the database and eight million North Carolinians, there is a one in eight chance that a state citizen has a claim, according to Heather J. Franco, deputy director of communications for the Department of the State Treasurer.
Think you may have a claim? The North Carolina Unclaimed Property (also called NC Cash) will staff an information table at this year’s Financial Fitness Week, hosted by the Duke Benefits Department from May 19 to May 22. Various financial experts will answer questions during 13 different workshops at the Searle Center, Duke Raleigh Hospital and Durham Regional Hospital.
“Duke employees will have the opportunity to search the NC Cash database right at the booth to see if they are among the one million North Carolinians owed money,” Franco said.
The most common forms of unclaimed property are bank accounts, wages, utility deposits, insurance policy proceeds, stocks, bonds and contents of safe deposit boxes that have been abandoned, she said.
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By law, financial institutions and businesses send money and property that have not been used for a period of time – typically one to five years – to the Department of State Treasurer, Franco said. The money is held until the rightful owner is found, and the interest earned goes to the State Educational Assistance Authority in the form of grants, loans and scholarships to North Carolina college students.
