You’ve probably seen the ads over the years talking about things like “free money” and “unclaimed property”.
There have been numerous schemes in the last couple of decades designed to take advantage of people who may have unclaimed money.
The fact is – many people are due money from forgotten bank accounts, all types of refunds, inheritances, etc.
And this report is to help you steer clear of the scammers trying to take advantage of the uninformed.
- Unclaimed Property And HUD Refunds
Unclaimed property is property that is or was rightfully owned by a person or company that never made it to its rightful owner.
Examples might be life insurance payouts (to survivors/heirs), savings bonds, and other property of possible considerable monetary value.
When the rightful owner of the property isn’t easily found (due to things like address changes, marriage, and re-marriage), the property goes into the state’s “unclaimed property” pool where it is held for the rightful owner.
For years there have been individuals who run ads in newspapers selling what amounted to lists of unclaimed property information and/or lists of consumers with HUD refunds due, and suggesting that people could start their own business helping people whose names appeared on these lists to be “reunited” with the money that was rightfully theirs.
This would be done for a commission, which the “tracer” or “HUD tracer” (i.e. the person who fell for the business opportunity) would ask for out of the refund due.
Due to a large number of complaints and considerable abuse, authorities cracked down on those selling and sharing of information related to unclaimed property, and on the practice of seeking out owners of unclaimed property for profit.
In many states it is not legal to charge a fee for helping someone else find their unclaimed property.
In the cases of both HUD refunds and unclaimed property, anyone can find out if they are due on their own… and it is becoming increasingly difficult for a “tracer” or anyone attempting to earn a profit by this process to keep within the boundaries of federal and state law.
If you think you may have unclaimed property, a good place to start is
If you think you may have a HUD refund coming your way (or if you aren’t sure but want to find out), go here:
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/comp/refunds/fhafact.cfm
According to the Wall Street Journal, as much as one billion dollars in unpaid life insurance benefits may be sitting on the books of life insurance companies.
While the insurance companies might not want to let go of it, if state regulators have their way, the money will eventually end up in unclaimed property pools.
According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA), in 2006 over $1.7 billion (that’s $1,700,000,000) in unclaimed property was returned to the rightful owners.
Their website also states that there is currently over $32 billion ($32,000,000,000) in unclaimed property in the U.S.
The $32,000,000,000 is spread over 117 million different accounts.
Could you be one of the over 117 million people with unclaimed property?
To find out go to:
And even if you’ve checked in the past, it might pay off to check again.
According to CNN Money:
“Florida’s chief financial officer announced this month that the state had received 61,271 new unclaimed property accounts worth more than $25 million as part of a settlement with insurance company AIG (AIG). The settlement is one of several reached last year with major insurers, including MetLife (MET), Prudential (PRU) and Nationwide after regulators in 20 states audited the methods they used to locate life insurance beneficiaries after a policyholder’s death.”
Here are some more places you can check for possible unclaimed money:
- Life Insurance Policies
(Note: some life insurance companies also offer searches on their websites so you can find out if there is life insurance money that might be waiting for you.)
- FHA
- Treasury Bonds
- IRS Unclaimed Refunds
- The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
- The Employee Benefits Security Administration
- Unclaimed Retirement Benefits
- SEC Enforced Claims
- FDIC
- Credit Unions (Unclaimed Deposits)
- Unpaid Foreign Claims
And don’t forget… Your current state and other states you have lived.
If you moved, be sure to check the previous states you lived, which can all be done at…
Free Money And Gov’t Grants
Although it sounds good, “apply and get free money from the Government” the truth is, it doesn’t happen often.
If you are an individual, then you can be 99.9% certain that they are NOT for you.
Government grants are most often awarded to places like universities, researchers, and non-profits.
They are usually awarded for particular types of research or particular projects, and the process of getting the grant money isn’t exactly a matter of writing a letter and asking Uncle Sam for a kick-back.
Grant-writing is an art form in itself, which is why many successful non-profits have staff they pay full time to “write” grants, which simply means they complete the application process for the non-profit to be eligible to receive money.
There are certain circumstances in which an individual might qualify for a Government grant, but those are few and far between.
To learn more about government grants, go to:
http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Benefits.shtml
Give Yourself The Gift Of…
Alright, so let’s say that you’ve searched the unclaimed property databases and found nothing.
You don’t qualify for government grants. Where’s your lucky break?
One thing I always say is…
“Windfalls are great, but you can’t build your financial future on them.”
But there is one source of so-called “free money” that a lot of people have immediate access to and do absolutely nothing with it.
Want to know what it is?
Unused gift card balances!
According to ABC News there have been $41 billion (that’s $41,000,000,000) in unused gift cards since 2005. That’s over $100 worth of unused gift card funds for every single U.S. citizen!
I once knew a coffee shop owner who started selling gift cards in his store.
When I commented on them, he told me about the company selling the gift cards had specifically said “one of the benefits is 20% are NEVER redeemed!”
This meant that if he sold $1,000 in gift cards, $200 worth of those gift cards would just be “money in the bank” for the coffee shop… all because some people lost, forgot or just plain did not use their gift card.
So if you do nothing else today, take advantage of the one source of free money that you probably already have sitting right under your nose (or in your wallet, or your purse)… unused gift cards.
Conclusion
Some people have discovered thousands of dollars they didn’t know they had by searching unclaimed property.
Obviously, not everyone is going to have funds due to them but (based on the numbers we’ve already talked about) many people do have something waiting for them in their state’s unclaimed property pool.
It might be $50 or $5,000… and in either case it’s probably worth looking into and going through the process of seeing if any of the money is rightfully yours.
As for “free money” in the form of government grants, as I’ve already said, most grants just don’t apply to individuals.
A lot of the ads you’ve seen are a bit misleading. With that said, I should tell you a quick story about a woman I knew who had a child with developmental disabilities.
The woman heard one of those ads and decided to look into grants and “free money” for herself.
She found a special grant designed for people with disabilities. After going through the application process she was able to get a large sum of money to help with certain aspects of caring for her son.
Keep in mind this woman was the exception, not the rule. Sometimes people need a lucky break, and every great once in a while they actually get it.
Maybe next time it will be you…
For the rest of us, the last bit of advice I have is simple:
“Make Your Own Windfalls…”
“How?”
By making better use of the money you have.
Did You Know That Investing Just $300 Per Month At 12% Interest Will Amount To Over $24,331.00 In Only Five Years?
You could spend the next five years chasing after windfalls that never materialize, or put some basic learning and knowledge into practice… and with minimal effort make a $10,000 “windfall” for yourself.
NOTE: This report was excerpted from the “Real Cash Secrets” Home Study Course.
To learn more, click here:
http://zodipublishing.com/real-cash-secrets-home-study-course-full-description/