Treasurer Steven Grossman today announced the
release of the latest tally of names that have been added during the
last six months to the state’s list of unclaimed property owners. Over
45,000 new properties in excess of $100 million combined are owed to
individuals and businesses in the Commonwealth.
“While this list is extensive, it only represents
properties collected by Treasury in the last six months,” said Grossman.
“There are literally hundreds of thousands of people who are not on
this list but who can lay rightful claim to the over $2.4 billion that
we have on hand. Checking to see if you have unclaimed property with
Treasury only takes minutes, and an estimated one in ten people will be
pleasantly surprised.”
Unclaimed property includes forgotten savings and checking accounts,
un-cashed checks, insurance policy proceeds, stocks, dividends, and
contents of unattended safe deposit boxes. Most accounts are considered
“abandoned” and turned over to the Treasury after three years with no
activity.
The newly released list encompasses only individuals and businesses
with shares of stock or mutual funds or unclaimed property over $100 and
does not include any owners identified before September of 2013.
Grossman urged citizens to check the comprehensive list at
www.findmassmoney.com or to call 888-344-MASS (6277), noting that one in
ten people in Massachusetts has unclaimed property in their name. Past
individuals with claims to Massachusetts unclaimed property include
President Obama, Tom Brady, Chelsea Clinton, Senator Elizabeth Warren,
and Governor Deval Patrick.
The new list also includes over $20 million owed to thousands of
beneficiaries of unclaimed insurance policies that were uncovered in a
Treasury-initiated audit of multiple life insurance companies. Because
of the audit, these life insurance companies have agreed to change their
practices to better identify beneficiaries upon the passing of the
policy holder.
Since the beginning of 2011, the Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Division
has dramatically increased its outreach activities, both directly to
individual owners of unclaimed property and to the general public by
setting up booths at fairs, sporting events, and other events. Because
of this ramped-up outreach, the Division was able to return over $103
million in property last year alone, setting a new record and firmly
establishing Massachusetts as the state with the highest per-capita
rates of returning unclaimed property.
The full list of names of the new individuals and businesses added to
the unclaimed property list in the last six months and owed amounts of
more than $100 will be published in the Boston Globe on Sunday, March
2nd and in the Boston Herald on Sunday, March 9th. In addition to these
two newspapers, the full list of names will also be published in 30
other regional papers and a partial geographically-segregated listing of
names will be published in 19 local papers.
The Treasury releases an updated list of unclaimed assets every six
months as new accounts are turned over to the Commonwealth. There is no
time limit to claim this property and, in many cases, claimants will
receive interest.
