Raimondo’s message of unclaimed money has seniors listening

Jennifer Rodrigues
Posted 8/1/13

Rhode Island General Treasurer Gina Raimondo treated members of the Pilgrim Senior Center to a visit yesterday during her Summer Smart Money Tour.

The treasurer’s tour, which started at …

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Raimondo’s message of unclaimed money has seniors listening

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Rhode Island General Treasurer Gina Raimondo treated members of the Pilgrim Senior Center to a visit yesterday during her Summer Smart Money Tour.

The treasurer’s tour, which started at state libraries early this summer and is currently stopping at farmers markets and senior centers across the state, promotes the Treasury’s unclaimed property online database and free financial coaching program.

“It’s terrific,” said Raimondo when asked how the tour had been going so far. “I’m trying to get the office out into the community.”

Although the audiences at libraries, farmers markets and senior centers are very different, Raimondo believes the benefit is the same.

“People are just happy to have someone they can talk to, someone they trust to help them with their finances,” said Raimondo.

During tour stops, Raimondo and her team are encouraging visitors to take a moment and look at the Treasury’s database for unclaimed properties, or money and other assets considered lost or abandoned after a period of time, and see if they have anything they can claim.

“The way I look at it, it’s pennies falling from heaven,” said Jennifer Fondeur, the Treasury’s unclaimed properties supervisor. She and unclaimed properties clerk Lauren Martin were on-hand at the event to walk attendees through the process of finding unclaimed property.

By logging onto the treasurer’s website, www.treasury.ri.gov, and clicking on the “search for your unclaimed property” link, users will be connected to Missing Money, the search engine for the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. Once users put their first and last name into the search engine, a listing of any unclaimed property connected to that name will come up along with an address. If the user lived at that address at one point in time, that property could be theirs. The database is a national one, although not all 50 states are registered.

Should users find property in their name, they can contact the Treasury’s unclaimed properties department to file the claim and find out the exact amount. The database only shows if a claim is above or below $100.

The database is updated weekly with new claims, so Fondeur pointed out if a user doesn’t find something today, they could find something at a later date.

Unclaimed property can include a forgotten bank account, stocks and dividends, life insurance claims and even refundable deposits and rebates. Fondeur said even unclaimed paychecks are in the database.

“It can be anything,” said Fondeur, adding that she has seen money owed from old cell phones in the database.

Raimondo told the audience of about 20 people about a woman who was skeptical about the process because she believed she wouldn’t find anything. The woman ended up having $1,400 in unclaimed property.

When money or assets go unclaimed, it is left to the Treasury. “If you leave money behind…it’s the treasurer’s job to give it back to you,” said Raimondo.

And she has lived up to that promise. In the past fiscal year, the Treasury has returned $8 million in unclaimed property to 8,000 Rhode Islanders, but is still holding 750,000 properties worth $250 million.

According to a press release from the Treasury, the average claim is between $100 and $125, but Fondeur says it can be anything.

“It could be five dollars, it could be $5,000,” said Fondeur, adding that there is no charge to receive your claim and the process takes about a week.

While one of the goals of this tour is for the treasurer to get out in the community to give people back missing money, Raimondo also took time to promote financial literacy and the Rhode Island Financial Coaching Corps, a community-based partnership between the Treasury and the Capital Good Fund to provide free, confidential, one-on-one financial coaching.

Jerry Leveille, a volunteer financial coach, was on hand to promote the program.

“We can help people,” said Leveille, adding that some solutions are simple and it simply helps to have another pair of eyes look things over.

Leveille and Raimondo also encouraged those with good financial skills to contact Lisa Gallant at Capital Good Fund and volunteer to be a financial coach.

“I want every person to be safer and a little bit more financially secure,” said Raimondo. “I’m going out into the community, to senior centers, libraries and farmers markets, to let people know I’m here to help you guys.”

Audience members were very happy to have the opportunity to meet with the treasurer and try to find some missing money.

Although Ginger Pezzelli did not find any unclaimed property in her name, she found the Treasurer’s visit to be very helpful.

Mary Daigneault said she was surprised to see Raimondo, who she recognized from TV, and was very impressed with what she had to say.

Francis Canning and Sandy Coutcher saw that Raimondo would be visiting in the center’s newsletter and made sure to stop by.

Coutcher did not find any unclaimed property this year, but three years ago she found $738 through the process from a paycheck she didn’t know she was owed. She added that the program is great, but if one is not computer-savvy, the process may be difficult, so the treasurer bringing the program and her staff to the people was a perfect idea.

“That shows that she really cares, and if she can help you in any way, she will,” said Coutcher. “I like her procedures and what she’s going after.”

Canning felt the same, referencing rumors that Raimondo plans to make a run for the governor’s seat.

“I’ll be delighted when she is the next governor,” said Canning.

The Treasurer’s Summer Smart Money Tour will continue through August with stops at the Thundermist Health Center Farmers Market in West Warwick today from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and the Goddard State Park Farmers Market on Aug. 9 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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