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This is not scary at all. This is a good situation.
Many people lose track of accounts. This is a form of protection. The account will go to unclaimed funds. You should check periodically to make sure that your name is not listed. Check the State you live in and use the general search engines to check for unclaimed funds from other States.
This is not scary at all. This is a good situation.
Many people lose track of accounts. This is a form of protection. The account will go to unclaimed funds. You should check periodically to make sure that your name is not listed. Check the State you live in and use the general search engines to check for unclaimed funds from other States.
Well, what was scary to me was the possibility of actually needing the money and then finding out it was gone because I had thrown away the notice, thinking it was just junk mail. (I would have thought it would come in some kind of official-looking envelope with "IMMEIDATE ATTENTION REQUIRED" written on it instead of looking like it was just kind of routine sales pitch (judging from the envelope) like we get so often. Yes, I know now that it could have been recovered, but it would mean at least some hassle and some kind of delay.
However, I do appreciate the comments and info that I have received from everyone, so THANKS!
This thread prompted me to search unclaimed funds in all of the states I have lived in. It was surprisingly easy and you don’t have to give more information than your first and last name at each state’s website. Unfortunately no funds for me! But lots of similarly named folk had all types of unclaimed funds available including apartment deposit refunds, unused gift cards and safety deposit box contents. Only took a few minutes so might be worth people’s time to check. Good luck!
I was absolutely shocked to receive a form letter from our bank saying that if we did not make a withdrawal or deposit to one of our accounts (just a regular savings account) that they will send the funds to the state as it has not been touched in five years! As the account now holds a little over $10,l000 -- the original 10K plus interest -- this was not just a little bit of pocket money (to us, anyway).
This is the first time that we ever received such a notice because it was the first time that we had left an account lie completely dormant for that long. (We had received an inheritance and just decided to put it in a separate account until we wanted or needed to use it.)
And what was REALLY scary is that it came in an unremarkable envelope that could have just ended up in the trash as junk mail!
This is commonly done, as it is unusual for someone to just put money into some account and never access it again. They don't know if you are dead, or what. We can't expect them to just sit on that money forever.
Simply show some activity in there and you will not have a problem.
This thread prompted me to search unclaimed funds in all of the states I have lived in.
I did this and found nothing for myself but lots of unclaimed money for family members. I have an uncle now living in Poland that had about $5k. Good way to reconnect with people you haven't talked to in a while and share some good news for them.
...and to the OP - the money isn't taken; its just moved from one dormant account (at the bank) to another dormant account (with the state). You can get either back without an issue.
I got the same notice on a 5 year dormant savings account, you would think the bank knows I am alive as I renew a CD every year that is paired with the "dormant" account. 5 min trip to the bank as I never opened an online account or used the long expired ATM card.
Another unclaimed funds story, I have an unclaimed funds listing for Ford. It is from a stock certificate that my wife bought for me already framed. I hung it on the wall and forgot about it till I get a $0.93 dividend check, I received a few of them and never cashed them so I now have a unclaimed funds account with the state, bet it's worth about $5.00 now.
I don't know what the time frame is, but if your account goes long enough without any activity, they will need to know if you're still alive. If you don't respond, the bank can't hold on to an inactive account indefinitely, and I think legally needs to turn it over to the state.
if that's true, then not all banks do. I lost my money in a dormant acct which I erroneously assumed was still there and just collecting interest to be used for a rainy day. Well, that rainy day came and when I went to collect, the bank told me I didn't have an account there. When pressed, the bank told me it was taken 'for fee's'.. but when asked about these so called fee's and about why I wasn't notified.. they didn't have an answer. My money isn't in unclaimed funds either, so I can only assume the bank kept it.
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