Early last August I wrote: “With wingnut thugs planning to disrupt every Democratic town hall this August, writing about ethics reform at the Missouri Housing Development Commission is … tame. That’s the problem with actual good governance: it seems so humdrum that it’s easy to overlook.” And then I wrote about Treasurer Clint Zweifel, who is …don’t yawn when I say it … doing a great job. The latest evidence of that, though, is even exciting. Here’s the press release:
State Treasurer Clint Zweifel announced today his office had returned $1.6 million in Unclaimed Property to a person in the St. Louis region. The payout is the largest single account returned to an individual in Missouri history. As always, when done directly with Treasurer Zweifel’s office, the Unclaimed Property return was made free of charge.
“Our average of $360 per account means a lot to Missourians. This return is tremendous, and I am proud my office was able to locate this individual and return the property. It was the largest single payout from one account to an individual ever, and as always, it was returned free of charge,” Treasurer Zweifel said. “I cannot promise every Missourian will get $1.6 million, but I can say that one in 10 Missourians has Unclaimed Property. It is always free when you go straight to ShowMeMoney.com.”
There remain 30 claims worth more than $100,000 each to be returned from Unclaimed Property. Of those 30 claims, the geographic breakdown is: 11 in St. Louis County; nine in Jackson County; four in St. Louis City; two in Boone County; one each in Pike, Camden, Cole and Franklin counties; and one with county unknown.
“I have 14 staff members dedicated to returning Missourians their money, and we go through records upon records to match addresses, chains of title and much more,” Treasurer Zweifel said. “With 30 claims worth more than $100,000 each and $600 million available, I encourage all Missourians to check to see if they have Unclaimed Property.”
In addition to the record payout, half way through the 2010 fiscal year Treasurer Zweifel’s office was on pace to break the previous record for Unclaimed Property accounts returned by more than 15 percent. A total of 45,809 accounts had been returned since July 1 totaling more than $16 million in returns. Wait times for returns were also down to 28 days, which is a 15 day reduction versus Dec. 31, 2008.
Missourians may search for Unclaimed Property at ShowMeMoney.com.
About Treasurer Zweifel’s Unclaimed Property
State law requires financial institutions, insurance companies, public agencies and other business entities to turn over assets to Treasurer Zweifel’s office that belong to a customer, client, employee or other owner if there have been no documented transactions or contact with the owner for five or more years. Most Unclaimed Property consists of cash from bank accounts, stocks, bonds and contents of safe deposit boxes that have been abandoned. It also can include uncollected insurance policy proceeds, government refunds, utility deposits and wages from past jobs. Treasurer Zweifel’s office does not handle real property such as land, houses, cars and boats. There is $600 million in Unclaimed Property maintained by Treasurer Zweifel. Treasurer Zweifel’s office never charges for the return of Unclaimed Property.