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State auditor seeks owners of unclaimed property Wednesday, Oct 4, 2006 By Betsy Turner Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The names of 51,000 Arkansans have been added to the list of owners of unclaimed property, the state auditor's office said Tuesday in announcing the 2006 Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt. At a state Capitol news conference, Auditor Jim Wood encouraged Arkansans to claim the $24 million in abandoned property turned over by various businesses during the year. In all, $100 million in cash and $18 million in securities is being held by the auditor's office from years of collections, Wood said, adding that many of the 240,000 people identified as owners of unclaimed property simply are unaware they may have the assets. "Ten percent of the people in Arkansas have unclaimed property here and all they have to do is come forward to claim it," Wood said. He said property and money, in the form of stock certificates or checks, are sent to the state if owners can't be found by the companies after five years. The auditor's office was assigned responsibility for handling the unclaimed property in 1984. Throughout October and November, Wood said, the office will run advertisements in newspapers across the state with a list of the owners' names added in 2006. A full list with names from past years is available online or by contacting the office by telephone. He said Arkansans should look for their names as well as relatives names when perusing the lists. Wood suggested that married women also should look at listings under their maiden names. In addition to the advertising, the names were aired Tuesday on the Arkansas Educational Television Network and will continue through Saturday. The auditor's office will also have a booth at the Arkansas State Fair to give out information on the unclaimed property. Wood said in recent years the search for the property owners has been made easier through advanced technology. One such program allows the office to search a history report of the owner's previous residences to match the address given by the owner of the property being claimed. ----- Call: 800-252-4648 On the Net: www.auditorjimwood.org |
