For almost 50 years the City of Chicago would not turn over unclaimed property totaling tens of millions of dollars to the state's debt-ridden pension funds.

There is a a private lawsuit pending that is causing the city to negotiate a settlement with the state treasurer. They are discussing future funds would be turned over, but there is no plan to force the city to pay what it previously kept.

The unclaimed property comes in a variety of forms, from uncollected city Board of Education paychecks and overpaid parking tickets to money confiscated by police during arrests.


"When the Chicago Board of Education on one hand has sued us claiming an inequitable scheme for funding the two teacher pension funds in the state, while on the other hand the city is ripping off the unclaimed property makes my irony meter hit the peg," said Jon Bauman, executive director of the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System.

Attorney Tom Peters, whose lawsuit against the Police Department exposed the city's failure to pay, said the department "is short-changing pension funds that are $43 billion underfunded. That money should go where it belongs."  Source: www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-unclaimed-11-aug11,0,5501606.story


To find some missing cash, people could also visit a website named so they can get some of that unclaimed funds that they my have forgotten about.


Visit South Carolina’s unclaimed property site.