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Consumer Inquiries
Be Aware!
There are companies who may
contact you to let you know that you have unclaimed funds. They
will gladly give you information about the money but will
request a fee in advance (usually $10 to $15.) Unfortunately,
what you get in return is an address and/or telephone number for
the individual state unclaimed property office holding your
funds.
Some companies also offer free
websites where you can search their database for funds that
might belong to you. However if you find anything under your
name, the company will charge you a fee to find out who is
holding those funds.
Don’t Waste Your Time and
Money!
All of the information these
companies try to charge you for is available to you free of
charge. You can get free, up-to-date information about unclaimed
funds by contacting the individual state unclaimed property
offices through the National Association of Unclaimed Property
Administrators (NAUPA). You can reach NAUPA on the World Wide
Web at http://www.unclaimed.org/.
NAUPA has a list of all the addresses and phone numbers of every
state’s unclaimed property office and many states have on-line,
searchable databases which can be accessed through NAUPA’s
website.
Let Us Know!
If you receive a notice advising
you to pay a fee for information about the unclaimed funds, let
us know about it. In Ohio, it is unlawful for anyone to locate,
deliver, recover, or assist in the recovery of unclaimed funds
without a valid contract. The contract must fully disclose the
nature and value of the funds, the amount the owner receives
after fees (finders are limited to 10% of the account’s value),
and the name and address of the entity holding the funds (that’s
us). If you have information about someone who may not be
following the law, forward the information to the Division of
Unclaimed Funds, 77 South High Street, 20th Floor,
Columbus, Ohio 43215-6108 or email:webunfd@com.state.oh.us
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