The Great Colorado Payback

For once, the government has gotten something right.

I heard the Colorado Treasurer Cary Kennedy on the radio the other day, talking about the millions of dollars of unclaimed property the state would like to return to the rightful owners. She said they even have a 14 carat diamond!

So I searched the Great Colorado Payback website for my name. I thought it would be a long-shot, but since there were hundreds of thousands of names on the list, it was worth a shot. I'm pretty sure I used to have a 14 carat diamond that I hadn't seen in a while.

First I searched the data base for my maiden name.

Nope, nothing there.

Then I searched for my married name.

Still nothing.

Then I searched for my husband's name.

Bingo.

I had a problem downloading the claim form, so I called the phone number for the unclaimed property office that was listed on the website. An actual person actually answered the phone after only one or two rings. Amazing! And the person on the other end of the phone, after confirming our previous address, told me my husband had $86 coming to him for a utility bill refund leftover from when we re-located to England. She said she'd mail me a claim form.

If you aren't one of the 3 million lucky ones to live in the great state of Colorado, here's a link to help you find out if your state has some of your unclaimed property.

Oh, and if you find a 14 carat diamond, just remember, it's mine.