Most of the State treasuries are at a loss as to how to handle the growing pile of unclaimed funds. This surplus of unclaimed money in the state treasuries is getting bigger with each passing day. Major states like California and New York have reported huge amounts of unclaimed funds: $5.7 Billion and $9.9 billion respectively. Although this is great news for states in this times of economic slump, the resources and logistics required to handle the increasing surplus is also required. Many of the state departments, including banks, are disclosing a great volume of abandoned accounts which is growing daily. Many of the nationalized banks are trying to return more than half a million of unclaimed or abandoned funds to their respective owners. By law, they have to return this unaccounted money to the state treasuries after a certain period of time. The same holds with other public utility divisions and insurance firms. NAUPA (National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators), which is considered to be an authority agency on unclaimed funds, has also expressed its concern over the rising pile of unclaimed funds in the state treasuries. NAUPA reported that approximately $33 billion unclaimed funds has been lying unaccounted for in the state treasuries and other agencies. As a result of multiple job changes and residential shifts, utility bills, bank accounts, Tax refunds, pension funds and other kinds of personal assets are left unaccounted and after some time fall into the hands of state treasuries. This escheatment fund continues to grow with the number of retirees growing every year. States are taking every measure to reunite the owners of these monies with their lost funds. From online campaigns to state fairs, state treasuries are adopting every tool to give these unclaimed funds to the rightful owners. By a rough estimate, 8 out of 9 families in the U.S. are the owners of some fund or property which has been accounted. The combined unclaimed funds volume has reached to almost $40 billion in the state treasuries and is expected to cross $50 billion very soon. Overseas employment, foreign workforce, increasing number of U.S. military involvement and inter-state migrations have resulted in a lot of unaccounted funds and properties. The state agencies have a hard time tracking the account holders and recipients of the refunds, but most often than not, the owners cannot be tracked, and the money ends up in the state treasury eventually. Every state treasury understands the need for a robust action plan to mitigate this problem of unclaimed funds pile-up, and takes every measure to reimburse the unclaimed funds to the actual owners. There is a great probability that the state treasury is holding some missing money belonging to you or your family. Even after years of persistent efforts and numerous state-sponsored programs to short the problem of unclaimed funds, the pile continues to grow and in many of the cases, states are utilizing these unclaimed fundstowards the development of state: education, health care and employment.
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