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Find Fun and Unclaimed Property at the Champlain Valley Fair

August 23, 2011

MONTPELIER, Vt.—Not all of the excitement of the Champlain Valley Fair happens on the midway. Each year hundreds of Vermonters discover they have money waiting to be returned to them when they visit the Vermont State Treasurer’s Office unclaimed property booth.

The booth is located in the Robert E. Miller Expo Centre exhibitor’s area and will be open throughout the fair’s 10-day run, from August 27 through September 5. Booth visitors simply enter their names in a computerized database to see if any of the more than $52 million in unclaimed financial property is theirs. There are more than 275,000 individual listings.

“We’ve been reaching out to Vermonters at the fair for more than ten years,” said State Treasurer Beth Pearce. “Many people make it an annual practice to visit our booth and check for property. In the past six years, we have paid approximately $547,000 on 1,466 claims initially processed through our computers at the fair. I want to encourage people to stop by and check for their name.”

Financial property becomes “unclaimed” after a business or non-profit entity loses contact with a customer for a period of years. The property is sent to the State Treasurer’s Office to protect the funds and centralize efforts to locate the property owner. Unclaimed property includes cash, checks, security deposits, refunds, stocks, bonds, insurance policies, bank accounts, and estates. There is no time limit for filing a claim.

Vermonters are urged to regularly check for unclaimed property because millions in new money flows into the fund each year. For fiscal year 2011, more than $8 million in new unclaimed property was received. Approximately 10,993 claims, worth $3,966,576 were paid out in fiscal year 2011.

There is never a charge to claim funds through the Treasurer’s Office. Vermonters are cautioned to be wary of companies claiming to locate and recover property for a fee. You can search online at www.MissingMoney.Vermont.gov or call the Unclaimed Property Division at (802) 828-2407 or toll-free in Vermont at 1-800-642-3191.

The Champlain Valley Fair is held at the Champlain Valley Exposition located at 105 Pearl Street in Essex Junction, Vermont. Gates are open from 10 a.m. to midnight each day. Exhibition buildings close at 10 p.m.