Asset Protection Tips

The Illinois State Treasurer’s Office encourages residents to take the following steps to protect their money and assets from becoming unclaimed property:

• Keep your current address updated with businesses and financial institutions that you do business with. Also alert these entities if your name changes.

• Make sure all of your accounts show regular activity. For instance, banks may turn over dormant CDs even if customers show regular activity in their checking or savings accounts. Generally speaking, the abandonment clock only starts ticking when an account shows no activity.

• Always respond to correspondence that requires your attention from businesses and financial institutions that hold your assets. They are required to send you a letter before the property is turned over to the state, and that letter contains instructions telling you how to avoid the property from becoming unclaimed.

• Review your tax records each year. If you typically receive a 1099 each year from a bank or corporation, and you do not receive one the following year but you believe they still hold your assets, check in with them.

Beware of Finder Firms

If you do lose track of your assets, a finder firm may contact you by mail or telephone and offer to reunite you with your assets for a fee. If you receive a letter from a finder firm, we encourage you to take the following steps:

• Check with the State Treasurer’s Office to find out if your property has been turned over to the state. Follow the “Search Cash Dash” link at the top left side of this page and enter your name. We will return your cash and assets for free.

• Check with your local county treasurer’s office to find out if the property has been turned over to them. Overpayments on Cook County property taxes are never remitted to the State Treasurer’s Office, and some counties will absorb overpayments as revenue after a certain time period.

• If you receive a finder letter and do not locate your assets at a governmental agency, make contact with those institutions that hold your assets such as your bank as well as your broker if you are a shareholder.

• Check with the unclaimed property departments in other states where you have lived. You can link to most other state’s unclaimed property departments from www.missingmoney.com.

Sample Finder Firm Letters

Here are examples of letters from finder firms that have contacted Illinois residents and directions on what you can do to reclaim the money and assets on your own:

• Kensington Research & Recovery: If you receive this kind of letter, you should contact the Cook County Treasurer's Office regarding a property tax overpayment.

• Keane: If you receive this kind of letter and are or were a stock owner, you should contact your broker or any company whose stock you own.

• Guishard, Wilburn & Shorts LLC: If you received this kind of letter, you should check our Cash Dash database and search unclaimed property databases in other states where you have attended school or lived.

Finder Firm FAQs

How do finder firms operate?

• Finder firms vary depending on the type of property they aim to return. Pre-escheat finders obtain customer lists from potential unclaimed property holders such as banks or insurance companies. These finders track down the customers with large holdings and offer to help locate property for them for a fee. Generally the fee is based on a percentage of the asset’s value. Heir finders or tracers concentrate on tracking down lost heirs owed portions of estates. Again, the fee arrangement is generally based upon a percentage of assets the heirs will be able to claim. Still other finders appear to concentrate on property held by other governmental entities, which would not necessarily come to the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office as unclaimed property.  For example, we have received numerous questions about a firm that identifies property tax overpayments held by the Cook County Treasurer’s Office. The firms do not disclose the location of funds until a fee agreement is in place giving them a percentage of the located assets.

Do finder firms use the state’s database to track people?

• We take steps to ensure that this does not happen. Unlike some states, we have a protective provision within our Act that prohibits us from disclosing information from reports or obtained during the course of an examination unless we have the owners’ consent. This prevents finder firms from obtaining a listing of our unclaimed property owners via a Freedom of Information Act Request. Some states sell the information via hard-copy or electronic format to finder firms. 
  We are required to publish owner names on a semi-annual basis, and some finders may target constituents they see in the newspaper. People should be aware though that property has to be in our custody for at least 24 months before a finder could receive a fee, and that fee is limited to 10%. Additionally, some finders may attempt to target people viewed on our website’s searchable database. We limit the number of property owner entries that an individual searcher can view to attempt to prevent abuse of this data.

How can I tell if a finder firm is legitimate?

• Finder firms that return assets covered by the Act must be registered as detectives with the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation. You can search their database here. Finder firms that handle other property such as property tax overpayments are not required to register. If you have concerns about a finder firm, contact your Better Business Bureau or the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division.

Why are Cook County property tax overpayments exempt from the Unclaimed Property law?

• A provision of state law provides that, “A claim for a refund shall not be allowed unless a petition is filed within 5 years from the date the right to a refund arose…”