Colorado Unclaimed Money

Here's some ear-candy for frustrated Colorado Unclaimed Money seekers - there may be hope yet. Your state's Treasury Department has started a program to help you get unclaimed property back in your hands.

The Colorado State Treasurer has a list of over half a million names of people who are owed unclaimed financial assets currently in the hands of the Treasury Department. Under "The Great Colorado Payback", this list has been published in newspapers and displayed in public places such as shopping malls, public libraries and the annual Colorado State Fair, but users really need to search several times a year as more money is added each year. That's the beauty of the Internet.

Lost assets are turned-over to the Treasury Department when their rightful owners can't be located after a certain dormancy period which differs from state to state. There are also methods for tracking down your lost money when they are in limbo, before the state has any record of them. Very few unclaimed money web sites will teach you about this.

These assets come from things like unclaimed insurance benefits, unused gift certificates, securities, cash or property like cashiers checks, safe deposit box contents, stocks, lost cash dividends, un-cashed money orders, payroll checks, credits, court deposits, found utility deposits, mineral royalty payments, unclaimed security deposits, and dormant savings and checking accounts. Unclaimed assets whose owners don't show-up will stay in the government's hands in the form of a general fund until someone comes to claim them.

In Colorado, the interests from this general fund goes to the CUHIP ( Colorado Uninsurable Health Insurance Program) but the owners can of course claim their assets at anytime-meaning there are no time limits in doing a claim.

The important thing to keep in mind is that government is consistently incompetent when it comes to handling money, so don't rely on them to find you. If you want your money (and you should, it belongs to you!), then you need to learn the proper ways to search for and claim your unclaimed money.