(Part 2 of 2)

Unclaimed property is turned over to the Treasurer's Office when forgotten funds aren't given back to their owners after a given period. The 'dormancy period' for WI unclaimed cash is 5 years. Lost assets can come from numerous sources – uncashed savings and salary checks, lost or unused gift checks, stock dividends, lost traveler's checks, forgotten bank accounts, and other financial assets that have been forgotten about and lost track of. The only tangible assets covered in the WI Unclaimed Funds Law are contents of safe deposit boxes that have been determined to be abandoned. The State Treasurer's Office attempts to find the owners of coins, jewelry, family heirlooms, pocket watches, sports cards, etc. but ultimately resorts to auctioning them off at eBay after 3 years. "There are a lot of safety deposit boxes that get turned over to us which a lot of people don't tell their kids, 'Hey we have a safety deposit box.' So we actively search for those owners for three years and if we can't find them we auction off the contents of the boxes. We do that on eBay," State Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass said.

According to WI's State Treasurer in a recent interview during a report by the WI Radio Network, they just run out of space to hold all of the unclaimed properties as they continue piling up year after year. "We do actively search for people for up to three years and then after that time, because we don't have a lot of space, we do have these auctions", she said in a recent report. The proceeds from those items are then held by the state like all other unclaimed monetary assets and are used by the state until the true owners step forward to claim them. "Until we can find an owner or an heir, yes, we do use the profits to support our office…", said Sass. These funds from auctioned unclaimed items in WI may still be claimed at any time though. "You know there are people who, you know, may be in the service and are stationed over seas for five, six, seven years and then they come back and realize that their, you know, mother's safety deposit box was turned over. So, you know, they had no way of knowing that before they came back year, so we always keep the money earmarked for whoever that belonged to, so they never lose out." the Treasurer adds. The interest accrued on these monies helps fund things such as WI low-interest loans to municipalities and school libraries.

The State Treasurer has stated that one of the biggest checks for WI unclaimed property handled by her office was worth $750,000. All the more reason that residents ought to do an unclaimed money search and see if they have some WI 'cheddar' being held by the State Treasurer.

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Money in mothballs
THOUSANDS of dollars in unclaimed cash is owed to Bayside community groups that do not exist.

California helps owners of
Hundreds of folks with

Lawmakers satisfied with handling of jackpot
… state’s $1.3 million share of the

How to Find Unclaimed Money Held by Local Governments
If you have ever done business with your local government or applied for a permit or license, or that sort of thing, chances are higher that you have unclaimed money held by your city waiting for you to claim it. Check out these tips and tricks to search for unclaimed cash being held by your city or town.

REGION: County lays claim to unclaimed money
RIVERSIDE —- Riverside County officials moved Tuesday to deposit $1 million in unclaimed property tax refunds and $350,000 in other unclaimed money into the government's general fund.