LOOKING FOR A HOLIDAY GIFT?
TRY MASSACHUSETTS STATE TREASURER’S UNCLAIMED PROPERTY.
The holidays arrived early for one of our condominium association clients, which found $22,000 that belonged to it on the list of unclaimed property held by the State Treasurer’s Office. The money was in the form of a bank CD the board had not been able to redeem.
This is a fairly common problem and only one of several that might land condo association funds on the Treasurer’s list. For example:
CDs, checking and savings accounts may be held at different banks -- it’s easy to lose track of which accounts are where.
Board members and management companies change and their replacements may not know where all of the accounts are located.
Associations may receive revenue from a variety of sources -- insurance refunds, rental payments, interest on savings or checking accounts, and lease payments from cable companies, among them. Boards and managers may not be aware of when and where these payments are made.
The Treasurer’s Office has close to $3 billion in unclaimed property and some if it could be yours. If so, it is very easy to find.
This link will take you the unclaimed property list on the Treasurer’s web site. If you enter the name and address of your condominium, you will discover quickly if there is any property in its name. You can also type the names of other condo associations, management companies, individuals and business entities and discover others you may know who have money waiting for them. If you don’t have a name, you can enter a category. The search term “condominium” produced thousands of condo associations. That’s how I found the money waiting for our client.
Claiming the funds involves some paperwork, which is a little time consuming but not difficult. Our client hired MEEB to file the claim for them, but you don’t need an attorney to manage the process.
It’s like a scavenger hunt. You don’t know what you’ll find or if you will find anything. But the possibility that there may be a large check – or even a small one – with your association’s name on it is definitely worth the minimal effort required to look for it.
For more information on finding unclaimed funds, email Richard Brooks, the firm’s resident sleuth.