Iowa Treasurer Wants to Fill Your Pot O' Gold with Unclaimed Funds This St. Patrick's Day

DES MOINES, IA (03/04/2016)(readMedia)-- There's no need to go to the end of the rainbow to find your treasure this St. Patrick's Day. State Treasurer Michael L. Fitzgerald has a pot o' gold better than the one promised to be waiting at the end of a rainbow to give back to Iowans. He has a vault brimming full of unclaimed property to be reclaimed.

"Our database contains names of individuals and businesses from all over Iowa," Fitzgerald stated. "We explored our list to find those Irish connections this St. Patrick's Day. We currently have over 80 records with the name Irish, including one Irish Luck Investment Club of Cedar Rapids; 125 with the name Ireland; and one for Dublin Bay in Ames. There are also many Clovers and Shamrocks, thousands of Greens and one Lucky Stop Inc. in Cambridge. The treasurer encourages everyone to check GreatIowaTreasureHunt.gov to see if a treasure is waiting for them.

The Great Iowa Treasure Hunt program has returned over $207 million in unclaimed property to more than 487,000 people since Fitzgerald created it in 1983. Unclaimed property refers to money and other assets held by financial institutions or companies that have lost contact with the property's owner for a specific period of time. State law requires these institutions and companies to annually report unclaimed property to the state treasurer's office. The assets are then held until the owner or heir of the property is found. Common forms of unclaimed property include savings or checking accounts, stocks, uncashed checks, life insurance policies, utility security deposits and safe deposit box contents.

Visit the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt at GreatIowaTreasureHunt.gov to begin your search. Like Great Iowa Treasure Hunt on Facebook and follow the program on Twitter (@GreatIATreasure).

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