From Skippy:
Your Own Treasure Hunt?Thank you, Ernie, olmanriver, Kym, Joel, Fred, Ben, Spyrock, Beachcomber, Oregon, Jonathon, charlie two crows, Anonymous, and all of you posting interesting discoveries. They were fascinating. May I offer an appreciation in return? Here's an easy Internet-Treasure-Hunting Adventure to have fun with-- for you, Ernie's readers, making it down this treasure thread so far.
It's called California's Unclaimed Property Fund. You might have heard of it. Think of it as a 'Lost and Found' for money gone awry due to mistakes, moving, wrong addresses... you name it. It's billions of dollars covering nearly 20% of our California residents. Fairly good odds, better than the lottery and easier than a metal detector. Searching is easy, fast, and fun. Try it, I think you'll like it.
But first, may I offer a few caveats and tips? I would kindly suggest reading this through, first, for your success and for some realistic expectations:
1. More often than most you won't find yourself listed; but you will find family, friends, neighbors, businesses, and acquaintances that you know listed.
2. Most of the amounts are small and insignificant; but 5-10% of them are very worthwhile for to pursue.
3. Put only a last name in the name box of the link, below, if you can. Leave the rest blank. I suggest only using a last name-- and leaving the other fields blank-- to broaden the search field. If it's a common last name try using a first initial, or a first name, and narrowing down the prospects below the 500 entries possible.
4. For additional searching fun, put in only a single letter as the last name, and the city. For example, "A", and the city-- say, "Phillipsville"-- and you'll bring up everyone listed in the locale starting with A; you can roll through the alphabet seeing who you might know.
5. If you come across a 'hit', click on the blue property ID numbers to the right of the listing. If the amount is worthwhile to claim, follow the instructions.
6. If you come across someone you know and like-- and the amount is worthwhile to pursue-- please let them know. It's a courtesy, a kindness, and a Santa Claus sort of thing. They usually don't know it exists; that's why their listings made it to the State's Lost and Found in the first place. If you don't let them know, chances are no one will. They'll usually be appreciative and thankful.
Good. You're set to go. Thank you for your patience so far. Here's the State's Unclaimed Property link to begin your search:
California State Controller's Site for Unclaimed Property
Don't forget to search business names, too. Yours truly found $6k for his wife's place; $7k for the vet; more for others. Some under different spellings, addresses, name variations or other errors.. Others, in plain view. Oh, and while Mr. Schwarzenegger only has a listing for 15 cents... he may want to claim it to remove his personal address from view.
...skippy has helped 150 folks find $350,000 so far. They've been very surprised, pleased, and satisfied overall. There are far too many listings for yours truly to possibly even begin to locate. Maybe you can help?
You, your friends, and Ernie's readers are next. Give it a try. It's as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. You might find hours of enjoyment searching. Feel free to pass this on to others-- and send them to Ernie's Place here for the link, won't you? Let us know if this pans out for you-- like the gold in Ernie's photograph.
--Happy hunting, good luck, and wishing you more adventure and fun for you and yours this Humboldt summer.
skippy
Skippy
As you know, I’ve found hundreds of dollars on that web-site. Most of it was from an insurance company that flaked on me. I have not as yet gone to the effort to apply for it. I hope that there is no statute of limitations, or the state doesn’t decide to steal it as unclaimed property.
Ernie
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
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11 comments:
thanks ernie and skippy. i didn't find anything for me but i did find about 7 listings for my cousins. so i told them about it. thanks again.
I won't even look, Ernie is the richest relative I ever had. I rest my case:-)
That pleases me greatly, Spyrock. As much as hearing Lucy's story and those dear $10 off smog coupons in Dad's fanny pack. One man's junk is another's treasure, and you found a nugget for your cousins by giving it a whirl. I'm glad this worked out well for you and yours. Thank you.
You reminded me of something. Like the gold in Ernie's photo, you never know how it all pans out. I contacted a fellow in Miranda about his listing. Hearing the details and the small amount he had coming, he broke down and started crying in disbelief. He explained he was incredibly happy; it was his grandfather who had left it for him in a trust. He had never known about it before.
He said Dad had previously squandered the family fortune and his grandparent's inheritance meant for him before drinking himself to death. He was so touched that this wasn't altogether true-- that his loving grandfather had indeed remembered him.
He hadn't been forgotten. This thought was more important to him than any amount of money, small as it was, could ever offer.
I'd actually been to that site before but just searched my own name with 0 results. Doing a search for my last name, I was surprised how many Mangels there are in this state. I'd been under the impression the name was rather unique.
Lo and behold, tho, I found my sister has two shares of stock worth over $80.00 to claim. I even recognize the name of the stock as it was the company our parents used to set up a trust fund for us.
Thanks for the tip.
"Ernie is the richest relative I ever had."
Wealth comes in many forms, some of which I am indeed rich, but my wife tells me that I can't afford to retire, so I must have the wrong kind of wealth....
thanks skippy,
i found over $300 for my 37 year old step son who moved back home to the gold country after a stint as a maintenace man in the bay area and no work as a carpenter yet. he does defensible space up here when he does work. he's sort of like the long hairs you have up there except he did get a hair cut to find a job. so it was good to do something good for him and bond a little bit. i remember finding an old will that my grandma grace simmerly nye left leaving me the rest of her furniture that she hadn't already given away to my sister and cousins who were older and had their own houses already. my mom left that part out of the will. she litterally made a copy, cut that page in two, leaving that part out and took all the furniture for herself and then said in her own will that there was a tag under grandma nyes furniture saying who each piece belonged to. i still have the real will and all the furniture that's was left after my mom died and i never have looked underneath any of it.
i'm waiting to see what part of it my daughter wants and then i'll look. it was good to know, that my grandma remembered me. but most spyrock women i ever met from those days you would carrying in your heart for the rest of your life. of course, that 12,000 acres they sold would have been nice to remember them by too.
Apparently I have stock in the Walt Disney Company.
Very good, spyrock(again), Fred, and Jonathon for successfully following the trail. Every dollar found, however small, helps the economy and the next person down the line who spends it. Ernie's Place, having 300 views in the past day, shows others might be finding some coin for themselves. If so, please consider posting a note here and spread the word for others to look, too, won't you? Thank you.
Folks finding unclaimed property can either claim it online or through the mail by printing out the form and sending it in. It's free and shouldn't cost even one thin dime. Follow the instructions. There's a number to call (800-992-4647) for any questions you might have.
...But what about unclaimed property in other states, outside of California?
Good question. Yahoo! More treasure! Finding property there, too, skippy has this covered for you. Easily done! Use these 2 sites covering most or all of the 50 states quickly and easily. Searching is free-- you can amaze your family and friends:
Unclaimed.org
Missing Money.com
If a 'hit' come up, one may want to go directly to the individual state that's listed. The claiming of property is free this way, rather than paying a possible fee to the clearinghouse itself.
You can also do a search for "unclaimed property" + the state desired, to find your own information, or that state's Controller's Office or other agency having jurisdiction.
Congratulations again, Ernie, spyrock, Fred, and Jonathon. Well done. Other folks reading here, I'd like you to find some lost treasure, too. Give it a try-- and try your luck. Happy trails to you and yours.
$112 bucks from Fireman's Fund... That's worth pursuing. Thanks Skippy. My son is owed $38. Quite a few Schills in Cali. Interesting.
I was there. $5.40 from the Controllers office for a refund from a dog health insurance policy. Thanks.
Ben 'n Bunny, thank you, but please thank Ernie. He carried the post and kindly relayed the information here for you. I hope it was fun for you and others. But before we bid adieu, here's an odd little story related to this column. File this wherever you like. Treasure comes in different forms for different folks.
A doctor wanted to pay for the service of finding his 'lost' money. Skippy declined; it's a goodwill thing, a courtesy for others, and he doesn't want to lose his way. Disappointed but understanding, the doctor said this: "Ok, let me give you a tip. I'm very excited about this. It's important. It's about cancer. And treatment."
Gulp. Cancer? The big C? Heavens. Uh, all right...
"There's evidence suggesting ascorbic acid-- vitamin C-- can selectively kill cancer cells effectively, quickly, and without toxicity. However, the ascorbic acid has to be administered intravenously via an IV drip reaching concentrations 25 times greater than what oral doses can offer. This had never been done before. The ascorbic acid surrounds the cancer cells and kills them. The evidence suggests this could be a very effective treatment; however, it's only been performed on mice-- no human trials have been done yet."
He continued. "So I performed my own trial. My patient was a young teen with cancer (I don't remember the type or stage, but it was a serious case) and after he and his parents gave permission for this alternate treatment he received extremely high oral doses of vitamin C-- in powdered form, constantly-- and an IV drip. His cancer, lymphoma cells, went into remission. They have not returned."
Yours truly was skeptical. This bordered on, well... quackery. I mean, really? Give me a break. Modern medical science, billions of dollars, and tens of thousands of researchers later and the best you've come up with is something as simple and seemingly overlooked as ... Vitamin C? Impossible. I don't believe it. But, thank you.
I was intrigued; he was a doctor, after all. Hanging up the phone, I looked up the information he had just offered. He was right-- research had appeared in a medical journal and studies recently performed as he reported (National Institute of Health; John Hopkins University; McGill University; and the US National Cancer Institute; to note, human trials were set to begin.)
This was several years ago and yours truly doesn't know where this-- or the human trials-- have ended up since then. I'm certainly not a doctor nor do I play one on TV, either. Cancer is a large and complicated issue. This is just what he said. His tip and an odd story. File it wherever you like. Treasure is where you find it.
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