Unclaimed money letters are real

NASHVILLE - The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance's Division of Consumer Affairs wants consumers to be on the lookout for letters from the State of Tennessee indicating that they might have unclaimed funds.

The State of Tennessee's Treasury Department, Division of Unclaimed Property, has recently sent a mass mailing of letters to consumers for which they have a record of unclaimed property.

What are unclaimed funds? Unclaimed funds are intangible assets held by financial institutions or companies that have had no activity or account holder contact for a year or more. This may include savings or checking accounts, refunds, customer overpayments, contents of safe deposit boxes, stock certificates, unclaimed wages, gift certificates, etc.

To determine if you have unclaimed property on file with the State of Tennessee, you can visit the Unclaimed Property Division's website at www.Treasury.TN.Gov/unclaim or call 615-741-6499.

You can search for your name, and if property is found, you can quickly submit a claim for it. There is no fee to claim your property from the State of Tennessee.

To prevent accum-ulating unclaimed property:

· Deposit or cash all checks for dividends, wages, insurance settlements, etc. without delay.

· Respond to legi-timate requests for confirmation of account balances and stock holder proxies.

· If you have a safe deposit box, record its number, bank name and address, and give the extra key to a trusted person.

· Prepare and file a will detailing the disposition of your assets.