LITTLE ROCK — State Auditor Charlie Daniels is trying to find the owners of $178 million in unclaimed property.
He launched the annual Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt on Wednesday. It involved printing the names of 682,443 property owners in newspapers, including in today’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and drawing attention to the unclaimed funds.
Auditor spokesman Janet Harris said some people or businesses may have multiple instances of unclaimed property.
People can search the unclaimed-property database online at ark.org/auditor/unclprop/index.php or can call (800) 252-4648.
Daniels said in a news release that in fiscal 2012, which ended June 30, his office collected $23.9 million in unclaimed property under state law.
Harris said $8.72 million was returned to the rightful owners or their heirs in fiscal 2012.
Banks and corporations nationwide turn over checks, stocks, bonds, abandoned bank accounts and safe-deposit items to the auditor’s office when companies cannot locate the owners.
Companies that hold property considered abandoned must turn it over to the state auditor by Nov. 1 each year under Arkansas Code Annotated 18-28-209.
Before the law was passed in 1979, banks and financial institutions would keep unclaimed money or items.
Sen. Bill Walmsley, DBatesville, who wrote Act 256 of 1979, has said that he didn’t think it was right for banks and financial institutions to keep the money.
In fiscal 2012, the largest single claim was for $324,027, Harris said.
“We processed six claims that were individually over $100,000, and the top 20 claims ranged from the $324,000 down to $49,000,” she said.
Seven of the top 20 claimants were individuals. The rest were corporations or trusts, she said.
“Most of the claims we get are probably under $100 or under $500,” she said.
The office publishes lists of the largest unclaimed property amounts in each county on its Facebook page, many of which are worth $2,000to $10,000.
State law says safe-deposit boxes are presumed to be abandoned if not claimed within five years.
Daniels said the auditor’s vault contains baseball-cardcollections, jewelry and personal documents from safedeposit boxes.
“Once the property is turned over to the auditor of state, it remains in trust for the original owner or the owner’s heirs to come forward and claim,” the release said.
To claim property, a person or company can search its name, address, city or Social Security number on the auditor’s website. Claimants then fill out a form, print it and mail it to the office.
The auditor’s office began development of a new website where claims can be made online in the summer of 2011. Harris said the system should become available to the public in mid-October.
The system also will allow those who filed claims to check the status of the claims, she said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 09/27/2012