KCNC TV CBS 4 in Denver reported in May that State Treasurer Cary Kennedy is currently holding more than $50 million in Colorado unclaimed money. CO forgotten assets most commonly come from things like dormant checking accounts, utility refunds, stocks and bonds, oil and gas royalties, safe deposit boxes, uncashed insurance checks, dormant savings accounts, mutual funds, money orders, payroll wages, dividends, security deposits. People who may have had one or more of these accounts or other similar accounts are encouraged to search for unclaimed funds.

While it is tough for a lot of people to believe that their fellow citizens could just "forget" or abandon money that belongs to them, it is surprisingly common. So common in fact that many estimate the 7 out of every 10 Americans are due some type of claim, and Colorado residents are no exception.

Even though there are tens of billions of dollars in unclaimed property across the nation (tens of millions in Colorado alone), the vast majority of it is never claimed and millions more are added to the rolls each year. The primary reason is the fact that most people have never heard of unclaimed money and those that have don't have the first clue about how to track them down and reclaim them as their own.

One of the first stumbling blocks that most searchers run in to is not knowing where to search. The truth is, there is no one web site to search on. In fact not all searches can be done online, so if you limit yourself to just the computer, you could be missing out on some cash.

Beyond not knowing where to search, many people looking for missing money believe that one search gets the job done. Aside from the fact that there is not one site that houses all records, all sites are continuously updating their records and the list of names of people owed money grows large each year in each state. In order to be confident you've located all potential claims you need to search regularly. Some people miss claims that were added to their state's system because they were added the day, week, month, or year after they searched.

Many people who don't live in and have never even been to Colorado are also owed CO unclaimed money for a variety of reasons. For example, if someone works for a company in their home state, but the company is incorporated in Colorado, things like lost payroll checks may be held by Colorado's state treasury, while their home state will have no record of these funds. A similar issue arises when people have insurance through out of state companies. This is yet another reason that one search won't cut it.

Any way you slice it, the state of Colorado is home to more mountains than just the Rockies, it is home to a multi-million dollar pile of abandoned cash. Everyone can agree that the citizens are much better at managing their money than any government agency, so anyone who believes they might have money coming to them need to take some initiative and being their search. Using tips from expert locators can help prevent people from making rookie mistakes that would otherwise prevent them from finding their money.