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July 26, 2000

Does the state owe you some money?

The Internet has made a lot of things accessible that used to be too impractical to bother learning. One example is the weather on Alaska's north slope. You never used to be able to learn the current predictions for Prudhoe Bay, Barrow and Deadhorse. Now you can punch in and learn how the wind chill is affecting the polar bears in a matter of minutes. Earlier this month there were snow flurries.

The California State Controller's office has had a list of "unclaimed property" for years. If an insurance company or some other organization with money that belongs to you can't find you, they can't just recite the adult equivalent of "finder's keepers." They're supposed to turn the money over to the state. In theory, the state then holds onto it for the rightful owner or the rightful owner's heirs.

In the past it took a good deal of effort to learn if the state owed you money. With the Internet, it's as fast as bringing a website up on the screen. The other day I checked out my own name. No luck. No one in my immediate family was on the list, but then I put in my brother's name? Bingo. Some health insurance company turned some cash over to the state they should have paid to him, in spite of the fact they had my brother's correct address, the same one he's had for the past 37 years.

I found a couple of my aunts listed. The addresses were right, but obsolete. Both have died, and their heirs obviously didn't know about the money. It may not be worth the bother in the case of the one owed $40 by Shell Oil, but the other, with dividends of $295 from a mutual fund is probably worth a followup by her son.

I found a close friend from Pacifica on the list, a man I've known for 34 years. He's owned the same house for at least 35 years. Blue Cross couldn't find him, though a phone call would have gotten him any given day. They had his correct address.

Perhaps the most ironic one was a listing for one "Jacqueline Speier" of South San Francisco, no street address given. A major stock broker evidently could not find her, and so turned over hundreds of dollars in dividends to the state. I called the senator's office and suggested she might want to call the State Controller from her office in the Capitol and get a windfall she's obviously owed but didn't know about. If I were the senator, I would then be on the phone to that broker and raise a bit of hell. She'll probably be more diplomatic than I would be. I didn't look up Chuck Quackenbush. I wonder if he's owed any claims by insurance companies which couldn't locate his business address?

I appreciate the massive job the state Controller has trying to handle millions of transactions, some piddling, some massive. On the other hand, I would think a postcard to the last known address would be a kindness. As I discovered, a substantial minority are still living at their longtime addresses, and would be delighted with a phone call or a postcard to tell them the state owes them money. Perhaps Senator Speier would be willing to carry a bill to beef up the work force needed to track down these folks who are owed so much. Perhaps some senior citizen volunteers might want to get involved.

Some recent Reactor columns may be found at Paul Azevedo's website, http://www.thereactor.net/ Reach him by e-mail at reactor@wenet.net

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