Cash Dash Helps Residents Locate Funds

State Treasurer Dan Rutherford is pleased to announce a major increase in the success of the Unclaimed Property Division’s (UPD) program, Cash Dash, in the 2011 calendar year.

For the first time in the program’s history, the amount of assets returned has hit the $100 million mark.  The Cash Dash program helps reunite owners with their unclaimed property.

The UPD currently has $1.5 billion in cash, plus contents from Illinois bank safety deposit boxes that have been abandoned for at least five years.    

“I’m proud to say that in the first year I’ve been in office, we’ve seen an increase in three main areas: total number of assets returned, web searches and number of claims paid,” said Rutherford.  “This is great because it means more people are getting money, property or assets they didn’t know about or forgot they had.”  

Assets Returned

In 2011, the UPD returned $19 million more in cash and stock value than in 2010.

Web Searches

In 2011, there were 2.2 million more Cash Dash web searches for unclaimed property. Also in 2011, the UPD paid more than 8000 additional claims.                          

“Upon taking office, I made it a priority to get unclaimed property I was holding back in the hands of the rightful owners,” saidRutherford.  “With an aggressive marketing approach, we are making this goal a reality.  Cash Dash marketers and I have been traveling the state to reach out to people in communities large and small to let them know about the Cash Dash program, and to encourage them to check our database.” 

The costs for marketing and supporting the Cash Dash program are not paid for with taxpayers’ dollars; instead, the program is funded by interest earned on the investments of the assets waiting to be reunited with their owners.

These expenses include a program director, staff salaries, marketing materials, travel and advertising.

Most of the state’s unclaimed property is held in the treasurer’s underground vault at the Illinois State Capitol, which was used to store the state’s cash, bonds and securities for more than 100 years.  The vault can hold up to 100,000 items in unclaimed property, but it is close to being at maximum capacity.

It is common for people to lose track of their assets when they move or when loved ones pass away. Businesses and banks are required to turn over unclaimed accounts to the treasurer's office. Some examples of unclaimed property currently held by the treasurer's office include the following:

• Money from inactive savings and checking accounts
• Unpaid wages or commissions
• Stocks, bonds and mutual funds
• Money orders and bill overpayments
• Paid-up life insurance policies
• Safety deposit box contents.

If one doesn’t make it to a Cash Dash community event, the treasurer’s website is always available so people can find out if they have unclaimed property through Cash Dash. 

Just visit www.treasurer.il.gov and follow the Cash Dash link. The website is updated weekly to reflect new properties remitted to the office. 

Source: Press release from Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford