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Good news for residents of Dodge County Nebraska.
Nebraska State Treasurer’s office.
Dodge County residents can find more than half a million dollars of their own money at the Unclaimed Property Division of the Nebraska State Treasurer’s office.
Treasurer Don Stenberg’s office will publish in tabloid format the unclaimed property list in Saturday’s Fremont Tribune.
Once a year, according to state law, his office publishes the names of people and organizations for whom the state is holding unclaimed property.
This year’s 28-page publication began appearing in 16 different newspapers March 6 through April 3. It will be published in the Lincoln Journal Star and Columbus Telegram on Sunday.
Some big names appear on this year’s list, including institutions of higher learning, major health care centers, banks and insurance companies, public and private entities, and some of the biggest businesses in the state.
In all, the Unclaimed Property Division holds more than $100 million for more than 350,000 Nebraskans or former Nebraskans.
For Dodge County alone, the office holds 2,764 properties available for claim. They add up to $566,943, said Jana Langemach, executive assistant and director of communications for the Treasurer’s Office.
In the 2011 publication, representing claims that became known in the last 12 months or so, there are 327 names from Dodge County.
“One of my priorities as state treasurer is to return unclaimed property to its rightful owners,” Stenberg said. “I encourage all Nebraskans to look for their names in our newspaper publications or check our website at www.treasurer.org.”
Stenberg said publishing the names is an effective way to find the owners of unclaimed property.
The week of March 7-11 after the publication initially started showing up in the state’s newspapers, Stenberg’s office received more than 3,000 claims, and 1,245 of those were verified for payment, he said. The rest are still being processed.
“Those 1,245 claims that were processed totaled more than $134,000,” Stenberg said.
“That’s a much higher volume than we usually have, so I’m sure that many of them were the result of that publication,” he said.
“In addition to the publication, when we receive property and the names of people it belonged to and their last known address, we send out a letter to the last known address,” Stenberg added.
His office also issues periodic news releases and has a booth at major public events like the Nebraska State Fair, Husker Harvest Days, River City Roundup and various county fairs.
“What we have there is a laptop computer where people can go online and look for their unclaimed property,” he explained.
“Most people are pretty surprised, and it’s a pleasant surprise,” Stenberg said. “Some of the claims are fairly small, $10, $20 or $30, but every once in a while you get a much larger one.
“I can recall that when (Gov.) Dave Heineman was treasurer and I was the attorney general he found a little unclaimed property for me,” he said. “I don’t remember the exact amount, it was $20 or $30, a utility deposit or something I made quite a few years before.”
Meaghan Aguirre, director of the Unclaimed Property Division, said unclaimed property could be in the form of stocks, dividends, utility deposits, mutual funds, lost IRAs, matured CDs and unused gift certificates.
The property also could be court deposits, payroll wages, refunds, commissions, dormant accounts, and safe deposit boxes.
Aguirre suggested readers look for their own names and the names of relatives, businesses and friends.
The names are listed by last known county of residence.
“For claims under $300 we don’t require nearly as much paperwork as what was required a few years ago,” he said. “Shane Osborne made that change when he was state treasurer and I’m continuing that. It just doesn’t make sense if it’s a $20 or $30 claim to have to provide a whole bunch of detailed information. Basically any claim under $300 can be made through our website, www.treasurer.org. If it’s over $300 we do require a little more paperwork.”
Claims can be made using one of the following methods:
* Call the Unclaimed Property Division, 1-877-572-9688 toll free outside of Lincoln between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays.
* Complete the claim form found inside the front cover of the newspaper tabloid and mail it to the State Treasurer’s Office, Unclaimed Property Division, 809 P Street, Lincoln, NE 68508-1390. The form must be notarized.
* Check your name on the State Treasurer’s website. Type your name in the box on the home page, or click on the Search for Unclaimed Property link in the left navigation pane. In many cases, owners can file claims online through the website.
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