Financial assets that have lost contact with their rightful owners. This can include dormant bank accounts, uncashed payroll checks, stock dividends, and even unclaimed insurance benefits. These funds eventually end up in state custody, awaiting rediscovery by their owners. Unclaimed property describes assets such as overlooked bank accounts, uncollected dividends, or even forgotten insurance payouts. If left untouched, these assets eventually end up in the custody of state treasuries, awaiting their rightful owners to step forward and claim them.
What Is Unclaimed Property?
Unclaimed or abandoned property is simply property that has been turned over to the states after financial institutions and companies (holders) have lost track of the rightful owners. The rightful owner is considered lost when there has been no activity on the property for an extended period of time.
Forms of unclaimed property include outstanding / uncashed checks (of any kind – payroll, AP, loan etc), bank accounts (savings, checking, money market etc), stocks. Even non financial assets are remitted to the states as unclaimed / abandoned, examples of these assets gift certificates, annuities, certificates of deposit, mineral royalty payments, and contents of safe deposit boxes.
Companies are required by law to turn over unclaimed property after a certain amount of time. The length of time until the asset is considered abandoned is definition by each state, most states define abandoned as 3 to 5 years, a few states use 7 years for this definition. Once the states have this property, this property becomes an interest free loan to the States until the property is recovered by the rightful owner(s).
The Unclaimed Property Problem
Each year millions of dollars are turned over to the various States as unclaimed property, often unnecessarily.
The States are holding billions of dollars of unclaimed property in trust for people and businesses.
More often than not companies turn over property that should never be turned over.
Secondly, companies are unaware that property belonging to them is available for collection from the states.
The states are all too happy to keep this property on their books, as it is an interest free loan to them.
And if companies do not collect this property, the state will hold the property indefinitely.
The Value of Specialized Assistance
This is where RBO Financial Solutions step in, providing an essential bridge between lost assets and their intended owners.
We hold the key to navigating the complex legal landscapes and the varying bureaucracy of unclaimed property regulations across different states.
Understanding these intricacies is essential for successful recovery.
RBO offers our valuable services to both individuals and businesses.
We help individuals recover forgotten funds they may not have known existed.
For businesses, we ensure compliance with unclaimed property laws, avoiding potential fines and safeguarding your reputation.
Give Us A Call 1-847-757-5636
Services Offered
The solution to this problem is quite simple. Establish and follow a strong multi-tiered Unclaimed Property strategy. RBO Financial Solutions does just this, helps companies to develop and implement well organized Unclaimed Property strategy. There are four distinct steps involved in establishing this process:
- Collecting property from the States
- Setting up ongoing due diligence to prevent remittance in error
- Training of company staff
- Taking ownership of the process
We’ll come to your office or provide services live via Zoom or other preferred video conferencing and provide the combination of services that your firm requires. Specifically, we will:
- Assist you in establishing an effective going forward due diligence program, to prevent you from tuning over unclaimed property to the states unnecessarily.
- Assist you in recovering unclaimed property turned over in past years unnecessarily.
- Training of your staff on how to perform these tasks in house.
- Assist you in collecting the money due your firm from the states.