At Choice Plus, we advocate for your rights by helping you reclaim forgotten assets and unclaimed inheritances.
Choice Plus, LLC has been a leader in advocacy and legislative reform since 2013. Our advocacy began that year when we attended the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) forum to update the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act. The forum was held in Washington DC and we attended as an approved observer. Observers provide input to the forum and propose amendments to further the program’s goal of maximizing the return of unclaimed property to its owner.
The forum was primarily made up of representatives and attorneys from the ULC, state unclaimed property administrators, and financial institutions that are required to turn unclaimed property over to state administrators. Choice Plus was one of only two companies representing private unclaimed property notification and recovery service providers. It became evident after a few forum sessions that recovery service providers would need to organize and develop fact-based advocacy positions to have meaningful impact.
In 2013, Choice Plus led a nationwide public records request project to obtain information from each state unclaimed property program regarding how much money had been received and returned since the programs’ inception. The objective was to see if return rates varied among states and, if so, why. Results showed that the success rate of programs varied from less than 15% to over 60%. The average return rate was 34.5%.
Also in 2013, Choice Plus became a member of the Unclaimed Property Professionals Organization (UPPO). UPPO is the nation’s largest unclaimed property trade association. The membership largely consists of financial institutions required to turn unclaimed property over to states as well as companies that provide support services to these financial institutions. We’re happy to report that recovery service providers continue to make up a growing portion of the membership.
In 2014, Choice Plus helped establish and to this day continues to oversee the Professional Claimants’ Representative Association, Inc. (PCRA). PCRA is a Florida based trade association established to monitor legislative activity and work to shape legislature and policies to ensure claimants have access to enhanced notification opportunities, expert claim documentation services, and access to financial resources provided by claimant’s representatives.
In 2015, Choice Plus was among several recovery service providers who presented a proposal to UPPO to create a new committee focused on advocacy. In 2016, the proposal was approved and the Claimant Representative Committee (CRC) was born and Choice Plus continues to be a significant contributor.
In 2017, the CRC conducted a new nationwide round of public records requests to get updated information from each state unclaimed property program regarding how much money had been received and returned since 2013.
In 2018, the CRC requested public records seeking information regarding how much money was discovered to have been paid to fraudulent claimants in each state. The study’s intent was to learn how significant the risk of paying fraudulent claims is in relation to the amount returned. Fraud prevention drives policymaking and the exaggeration of risk results in policies that are far more harmful to legitimate owners than the harm caused by claims paid to fraudulent claimants.
In 2022, the CRC conducted another round of public records requests to get updated information from each state unclaimed property program regarding how much money had been received and returned since 2017.
In 2024, the CRC hosted a webinar titled “Why Unclaimed Property Owners Benefit from access to Private Sector Notification and Recovery Resources”. Choice provided significant content to develop the webinar, which can be viewed here: webinar
Choice Plus Legislative Activity
In 2016, legislation in Michigan (HNB 5283) was successfully implemented to help increase the return of unclaimed property.
In 2020, comprehensive legislation in Michigan (HEBS 5339 & 5340) was advanced which was projected to increase the return of unclaimed property by approximately 50%. The legislation passed the House and Senate but was vetoed by the Governor.
In 2023, comprehensive legislation in Georgia (SB 103) was successfully implemented that is projected to increase the return of unclaimed property by at least 5-fold. (Georgia’s return rate was around 11% and we expect the new law to allow the return rate to increase to around 60%)
In 2023, comprehensive legislation in Arizona (HB 2623) was advanced that was projected to increase the return of unclaimed property by approximately 50%. The legislation passed the House and Senate but was vetoed by the Governor.
Key Points: Arizona holds nearly $2.8 billion in unclaimed property State agency gives insufficient notice to property owners Arizona law requires only 120 days’ notice before seizing unclaimed property Arizonans could soon get better notice if the state is holding on to their share of nearly $2.8 billion in unclaimed property. […]
COLUMBUS, Ohio— Ohio has become more aggressive than any other state in seizing privately owned unclaimed funds, even as many states are moving to automatically return money to their owners, an analysis has found. Under a controversial new Ohio law currently being challenged in court, the state of Ohio is taking ownership of $1 […]
Ohio residents say they’re waiting months longer than expected for unclaimed funds as the state reports nearly 41,000 pending claims. But lately, his sea of orange and brown has been tinged with a touch of gray as he’s been left waiting nine months for his unclaimed funds case to be processed by the state. […]
LAUREL SPRINGS, N.J. (WPVI) — A South Jersey family says their 7-year-old son’s savings account inexplicably vanished, leaving them scrambling for answers until the money ultimately resurfaced in New Jersey’s unclaimed property system. Sarah Dimarco said she has been stuck in what she called “paperwork purgatory” after discovering her son Finn’s account balance had […]
A criminal hurts you. A judge orders him to pay you restitution. The criminal actually pays. The government gets the money. And you still don’t. Welcome to America’s unclaimed restitution system. I spend a lot of time investigating money that belongs to ordinary Americans but somehow winds up in government hands. California auditors […]
