Caution Advised On Unclaimed-Property Offers
Have you been contacted by an estate locater or heir finder and asked to pay a fee because big bucks are waiting somewhere for you?
Be cautious, advises R. Terry Allen, president of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators and an official with the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer.
Officials from the unclaimed-property section in the Washington State Department of Revenue echo that advice.
Many locaters and tracers do offer a legitimate service, but consumers should know something about the ground rules.
Under Washington state laws, legitimate finders receive no fee unless they actually locate something for you, and the fee is limited to 5 percent of the ``property.''
Percentages vary in other states.
Twice a year, generally in March and September, the Washington State Department of Revenue runs newspaper advertisements seeking the owners of ``abandoned property.''
This property may be old, forgotten bank accounts, bonds, dividends, utility deposits or safe-deposit boxes. The sums vary from less than a dollar to thousands of dollars.
Thousands of consumers whose surnames are Brennan, Daniel, Fischer, Graham, Hardy, Newton, Nixon and Upton, among others, have received letters from Abdalla, Dickinson, Richards & Timek of Hughestown, Pa.
For $36, the Pennsylvania firm offers consumers a report on how to collect thousands in unclaimed funds.
Allen, of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, said consumers in Florida, Maine, Illinois and Washington, D.C., have received letters from Abdalla, Dickinson, Richards & Timek.
Allen says the information offered for $36 by the Pennsylvania firm is much like that in a free booklet offered by his association.
The U.S. Postal Service has obtained a court order to hold the Pennsylvania company's mail until a hearing is held this week.
The Postal Service alleges that Abdalla, Dickinson, Richards & Timek, also known as Jam Marketing Services, is misrepresenting its information.
In a press release, the company ``categorically and emphatically'' denied the government's allegations.
``We resent the fact that we have been forced to defend our good name and proclaim our innocence in the media, where the appearance is often that you are guilty until proven innocent,'' the statement said.
Abdalla, Dickinson, Richards & Timek is not registered with the Washington State Department of Revenue as required, said Jerry Pugnetti, an agency spokesman.
The Postal Service says the company has sent out approximately 85,000 letters since November, and is receiving a response rate of about 5 percent from consumers.
We calculate that to be more than $150,000.
To receive a free brochure on agencies in various states that govern unclaimed properties, send a stamped, self-addressed business-size envelope to the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer, 325 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, N.C. 27603-1388.
The Washington State Department of Revenue offers ``The Uniform Unclaimed Property Act of 1983'' and ``What You Need to Know about Unclaimed Property.'' Both are available free from the Unclaimed Property Section, P.O. Box 448, Olympia 98507, or call 586-2736 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays, except holidays.
Shelby Gilje's Troubleshooter column appears Sunday through Thursday in the Scene section of The Times. Do you have a problem? Write to Times Troubleshooter, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. Include copies, not originals, of documents indicating payment, guarantees, contracts and other relevant materials.