We don’t blog much these days, but in the last several years you can see the balance of unclaimed funds at the Treasury expand by over $2 billion dollars.

We are barely making a dent with our recovery efforts despite the largest outreach campaigns in the State of New Jersey.

We are the number 1 recover agent in New Jersey by a large multiple, and yet despite our best efforts the funds at the Treasury keep accumulating.

255,000 people lost funds to the State of NJ last year alone; but only 66,000 successfully recovered their unclaimed money.

The necessity of our service has never been more overt.

Why hire GSTC? Because it is not simple and easy to claim funds from the Treasury. Our research indicates over 50% of claims end in failure. This is by design. The Treasury makes the claim process difficult.

With our company you have experienced recovery professionals that will succeed where others have failed. We handle living claims. deceased claims, trust claims, gift to minor accounts, accounts with old addresses, accounts with bad addresses, and every other scenario.

The Treasury maintains that Unclaimed property is a mechanism for the State of New Jersey to safeguard property that has been abandoned or lost for three years. We maintain that Unclaimed property is a mechanism for the State of New Jersey to cover budget shortfalls at the expense of the individuals who can least afford the cost.

The State of New Jersey grew its coffers by over $1 billion dollars since our last post.

Who does this money belong to?

The treasury will tell the public they are a custodian safeguarding the assets from misappropriation by corporations that could not return the funds to their customers. This is factually correct.

However, if the stated goal is to return this money to its owners, why does the balance continue to grow faster than the money can be returned?

Short answer - by design.

Everything about the structure of the unclaimed property administration is designed to make sure that vast balances stay with the treasury. The State is so confident that they will never have to pay the bulk of these funds out to the public that they actually transfer most of it to the general fund. And they rely on new money coming into the program to pay out claims for older accounts.

When the deck is this stacked against you, hiring a professional recovery expert is a logical decision.

With over 3 million accounts, holding over $4 billion dollars, the State of New Jersey Treasurer has quietly accumulated a fortune that no one in government seems to talk about.  With a population just north of 9 million people, the numbers suggest that as many as 1 out 3 New Jersey residents have an unclaimed property sum due to them.

And even for those aware that they may have an old utility refund, or final paycheck un-cashed, the unfortunate conclusion is often, "how much could it possibly be?" or "its probably not worth the effort!".

Of course 65% to 75% (depending on the publisher) of unclaimed accounts are in fact under $100, however, 1) $100 is a lot of money, 2) many people have multiple accounts that add up to larger sums.

This money is important to the State, they use it to fill there budget deficits.  But its not the State's money, and your taxes are high enough.  Yes, it can be difficult to complete the claim process, but that is why GSTC formed to fill that role.

It really is simple and easy to work with us.  You can start a claim online, we will email you the agreement and authorization for electronic signature and we are on the case.

§ 17:18-4.2 Payment to be made; claimant's address and signature in claim form; corporate claims

• (a)  Notwithstanding any language in any agreement, authorization or other writing with a searcher, whether for compensation or not, to locate, deliver, recover or assist in the recovery or claim of abandoned property, payment of any such claim, as approved by the administrator, shall be made by the administrator directly to the actual claimant, to the claimant's fiduciary named for a purpose other than the sole purpose of collecting the claim from the administrator, or to a court appointed representative authorized to collect the property of the claimant.
• (b)  Any claim form for unclaimed property as prescribed by the administrator, submitted to the administrator by a claimant, shall state the actual claimant's own address and be verified by the claimant's actual or electronic signature.
• (c)  Unless expressly directly otherwise by statute or court order, payment of a claim shall be made by the administrator to the actual claimant and sent to the claimant at the claimant's own address. The administrator will make payment jointly to a claimant and a claimant's attorney only when expressly directed to do so by court order.
• (d)  If a claimant is a business association as defined by N.J.S.A. 46:30B-6d and claims abandoned property as being owned by the business association, the business association shall provide proof that the business association is not dissolved or has not had its charter revoked for any reason by producing a current certificate of good standing (short form), status report, tax clearance certificate, or other document issued by the State of New Jersey showing good standing prior to any claim being paid to that claimant.