Finance Wanted.

By Russ D Johnson

Not many people know it, but New Mexico is home to quite a few American icons. In 1950, the little cub that was to become the National Fire Safety symbol, Smokey the Bear, was found trapped in a tree when his home in Lincoln National Forest was destroyed by fire. The New Mexican city of Cimarron, once known as the "Cowboy capital of the world", was home to Kit Carson and "Buffalo Bill" Cody. And just as the Carlsbad Caverns (whose largest chamber is more than 10 football fields long and about 22 stories high) houses tens of thousands of American bats, the State's Taxation and Revenue Department is home to almost one hundred million dollars in New Mexico unclaimed money.

According to a recent press release by the New Mexico's Division of Taxation and Revenue, $98,038,643.58 in New Mexico unclaimed money is in the government's hands and the money is just waiting to be claimed by owners who have lost track of their financial assets over the years. According to the government press release, "New Mexico Unclaimed Property includes security deposits for utilities, bond money, insurance proceeds, income tax refund checks that were undeliverable and property abandoned in safety deposit boxes." Property from abandoned safety deposit boxes includes things like jewelry, comic books, old coins, other collector items and family heirlooms. New Mexico Unclaimed Property Law requires these assets to be handed-over to the state after 3-5 years of being 'dormant' or 'inactive'.

There are 682,766 owners of New Mexico state unclaimed money and chances are, they don't even know they're missing money. Sometimes people move and forget to leave behind a forwarding address. This results in undelivered mail, which can include mailed checks or notices of inheritance or other financial documents. People also pass-away without letting their next of kin know about any financial assets they may have. There are several other reasons for assets getting lost and fact is, it's happening everywhere in the U.S.- especially now with the fast-paced lifestyles most people are leading. It's easy to forget about collecting last paychecks and retirement pensions when moving-on to something new in one's life. Nationally, unclaimed funds now total roughly $35 billion spread-out among the 50 states and more is added to that each year!

In ten years' time, over $130,000,000 unclaimed money in New Mexico was collected from banks, the IRS, and other financial institutions throughout the state. The state is required to advertise owners names in the local newspaper of the last known address of owner only once a year (every November), so this leaves a lot of room for unclaimed property owners in New Mexico to overlook their missing money. The last known address might not be where the owner resides anymore, or there can be errors in the address on the letters. Citizens should take the initiative and do an unclaimed money search in New Mexico and other states, for that matter. Odds are good that you just might be owed government unclaimed money in different states, especially if you've lived in or have relatives in several states.

Unclaimed money and property expert Russ Johnson has been assisting Americans in finding their unclaimed money online since 1997. His site, http://www.unclaimedmoney.net, is updated regularly and offers guaranteed official searches for New Mexico unclaimed money and missing money across the country.