The Internal Revenue Service is trying to locate hundreds of Saint Claire and Madison, Illinois residents and give them much-needed money. A Southwestern Illinois news site reports that 257 economic stimulus checks have yet to be given to their proper recipients because of a change of address. Illinois IRS spokeswoman Sue Hales says "In Illinois, the average undeliverable stimulus payment is $569 and the average undeliverable regular refund is $957. That's a lot of money that could come in handy as the holidays approach.".
Lots more residents are owed state unclaimed money from other sources of Illinois unclaimed funds. Actually, the Treasurer has been making efforts to reunite all residents of with the Illinois unclaimed property money they've lost track of somehow. Uncashed checks, forgotten bank accounts, stocks and dividends, insurance and pension benefits, even safe deposit boxes and unused gift certificates are counted as state unclaimed property. When owners of these financial assets aren't located after a specified 'dormancy period' of 5 years, Illinois-based businesses and establishments are required to turn them over to the State Treasury who puts it in the State's $1 billion Unclaimed Property Fund. A portion of the fund is invested in the state's pensions until returned to the rightful owners. Giannoulias' office is able to do that because there's always new unclaimed money collected every year throughout the state. The city of Chicago is in hot water right now for not turning over unclaimed property to the Treasury. Spokesman for the Treasurer's office, Scott Burnham says there's no record of the Windy City ever handing over unclaimed property.
More than 55,000 people and businesses have had cash or other assets turned over to the state since August 2007, bringing the total number of claimants to over 10 million. According to the Treasurer in another report on The Daily Vidette- Illinois State University's student newspaper, "We hold over $1.5 billion for over 10 million individuals or businesses." Usual claims are for around $100-$200, according to IL State Treasurer spokeswoman Kati Phillips, but “we do have thousands of people who are owed thousands of dollars.”
The Illinois unclaimed money pot is filling-up because most owners don't even know they're owed money by the State. Those that do know about it don't even bother to check- thinking it's not worth the hassle. Though the average claim is less than $100, there are hundreds of Illinois residents who will see windfalls of $10,000 and more, according to the State Treasurer. In these tough economic times, one might find it doubtful that peope can lose track of theire money, but it does happen. In fact, according to a an NBC Chicago News report, 44,375 Chicago dwellers haven't filed for their economic stimulus checks yet and the total amount of unclaimed tax refunds is around $30 million. it would really be a good idea to do an on-line unclaimed money search for yourself and your family. You may actually be missing money and own a portion of the billion dollar pot in Giannoulias' office.
