The state is holding around $5.5 million in property for people and businesses in Catawba County who haven’t claimed it or doesn’t know it exists.
Unclaimed property is typically bank accounts, wages, utility deposits, insurance policy proceeds, stocks, bonds or contents of safe deposit boxes, according to information from the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer. It’s property that has usually been abandoned for one to five years because the “holder” has lost track of the owner or has wrong information, according to the state. The Hickory Daily Record had little luck when it tried to contact numerous businesses and people on the unclaimed property list for Catawba County.
Among the more than 18,000 businesses and individuals in Catawba County with unclaimed property the state is holding are banks such as BB&T and Bank of America, the city of Hickory records department, Hickory High School Class of 1984, Hickory Housing Authority and Nextel.
Businesses are required to report and turn over unclaimed property annually. The deadline for businesses to report unclaimed property is Nov. 1.
Hickory Mayor Rudy Wright and his wife, Donna, are each on the state’s unclaimed property list twice. The address listed for the property is one the couple moved from around 2007, the mayor said.
Wright said he knows that he had some bank stock that didn’t do well but he has yet to claim it.
“I figured it was doing no worse with the state than it was with me,” Wright said laughing.
Wright said claiming the property is on his to-do list. He doesn’t think it’s a large amount, “But it’s mine and I’m going to get it,” Wright said.
John Setzler, who is a freelance photographer for the Hickory Daily Record, also is on the list. Unlike Wright, Setzler has no idea what his unclaimed property might be.
The address used for Setzler on the unclaimed property list is one that he said was a really old post office box address and he used it when he was living in an apartment.
Setzler said he wasn’t aware the state held unclaimed property or that he was one of the ones on the state’s list.
You don’t have to pay anything to claim the money. The department of State Treasurer has a website, www.nccash.com that people can search to see if their name or business has unclaimed property. Even businesses that no longer exist can have unclaimed property, according to the list for the county.
The website says if you find your name listed, you can print a claim form from the website or call 919-508-1000 to request a claim form. Sign the claim form and if the amount is greater than $50, you are required to have your signature notarized. Attach the requested proof of ownership and mail it to the “unclaimed property” address on the bottom of the claim form.
The state holds property indefinitely, said Heather Strickland, deputy director of communications for the NC Department of State Treasurer. The interest earned on the property goes to the State Educational Assistance Authority for grants, loans and scholarships for students attending public universities and community colleges in the state, she said. At the end of the 2010 fiscal year, more than $7 million in interest earned was sent to the fund from the state to help needy students, according to information from the state.
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