Spring Cleaning Means Money for Iowans through the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt

• by State of Iowa Treasurer's Office

DES MOINES, IA (04/27/2009)(readMedia)-- It's that time of year again. State Treasurer Michael L. Fitzgerald is doing a little spring cleaning around the treasurer's office in an effort to get the unclaimed property list ready for the upcoming publication of the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt. Thousands of names have been added to the list since the last publication in the fall.

"Spring publication is always an exciting time for us," stated Treasurer Fitzgerald. "Our goal is to reunite as many people with their unclaimed property as possible. I fully expect that when we publish the new list, a lot of individuals will be pleasantly surprised." The spring publication of the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt is scheduled to begin soon, and includes funds received since November 2008. Treasurer Fitzgerald would also like to remind individuals they do not have to wait until their name is published in the paper to see if they have unclaimed property. "Individuals can go to www.greatiowatreasurehunt.com and search the entire Great Iowa Treasure Hunt list for their names anytime."

Through the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt, the treasurer's office has returned $100 million to over 280,000 Iowans. The unclaimed assets could be from forgotten or inactive savings/checking accounts, utility refunds or deposits, uncashed insurance benefit checks, lost stock and dividends or even abandoned safe deposit box contents. When a person does not respond over an extended period of time to regular mailings from banks or corporations holding their funds, the property is reported to the State Treasury.

Make sure to keep watch for the upcoming publication coming soon to local papers. For more information about the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt, please visit www.greatiowatreasurehunt.com. Interested individuals can also correspond by email at foundit@iowa.gov or by contacting the treasurer's office at the following address: Michael Fitzgerald, State Treasurer, Great Iowa Treasure Hunt, Lucas Building, Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0005. Please include the name(s), maiden name(s), current and previous address(es) of those people you would like searched.