Personal & Business Assistance
Can I get a loan or grant
from the Treasury Department?
I am starting a mail order
business. Can you send me all of the
information I need to get started?
I have been notified that
the Treasury Department owes me money or is
holding funds (or property) in my name. The
letter indicates that I can receive this
unclaimed property if I pay a "finders" fee.
Can you help?
Contrary to the impression of many
people, the Treasury Department generally
does not administer any financial assistance,
loan, or loan guarantee programs to
individuals or businesses. The only source of
information we can provide for personal
financial assistance is the Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance. This book
provides a detailed listing of Federal
assistance programs and the agencies
responsible for their administration. It is
available in most large public libraries. If
you believe you qualify for any of the
programs listed therein, you should apply for
benefits to the agency or department
administering the program at the address
shown therein.
In addition, the Small Business
Administration (SBA) administers several
lending programs for small companies that
cannot obtain financing through regular
commercial credit sources. Information on the
SBA's eligibility criteria and the procedures
for applying for a business is available from
the local SBA office. This would be listed in
your telephone directory under the heading
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.
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Information about mail order
businesses is not available from the Treasury
Department. You should directly contact the
two agencies having primary responsibility in
this area. First, contact the Office of
Public Affairs, Federal Trade Commission,
Pennsylvania Avenue at Sixth Street, NW,
Washington, D.C. 20580. You should also
contact the Office of the Assistant
Postmaster General, Public and Employee
Communications Department, United States
Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW,
Washington, D.C. 20260-0010.
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We receive many requests from people inquiring
about the possibility that the Federal government is holding
unclaimed government funds due to them. There is no government-wide,
centralized information service or database from information
on unclaimed government assets may be obtained. Each individual
Federal agency maintains its own records and would need to
research and release that data on a case-by-case basis. The
only unclaimed asset information that would be in the possession
of the Department of the Treasury would pertain to outstanding
Federal government check issue records or outstanding savings
bonds, Treasury bills, Treasury notes or Treasury bonds.
Treasury's (FMS)
serves as the disbursing agent for most
civilian Federal agencies and, as such,
offers check issue data retrieval services to
those agencies. When the agencies submit
check status inquiries, they supply check
symbol and number data, as opposed to payee
names or other payee identifiers. Once
provided with specific check symbols and
numbers corresponding to government check
payments, the FMS can perform a search that
enables them to verify the issuance and
status of those checks. Federal check issue
and cancellation records cannot be searched
in any other manner due to the configuration
of their check payment and reconciliation
system.
Several companies, or locator services,
engaged in the business of identifying and
recovering unclaimed assets for profit,
acquire Federal check issue data from FMS and
various Federal government agencies under the
provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.
The information requested by these companies
pertains to specific check symbols, numbers
and dollar amounts identified on Treasury
check cancellation listings compiled by FMS.
These listings are not searchable by personal
identifiers, such as a person's name or
social security number. Personal identifiers
may, however, exist in Federal agencies'
check issue or cancellation records., Using
such personal identifiers, if available,
these locator services attempt to locate the
prospective beneficiaries, or "payees,' for
canceled/unpaid government checks and, on
their behalf, attempt to collect the payment
amounts from the Federal agencies that
originally certified the payments. It is
important to note that these firms are also
involved in recovering unclaimed property in
the possession of State and local government
entities.
In its role as disbursing agent for
Federal program agencies, the FMS cannot
issue payments on their behalf until official
certification of those payments is received
from the respective agencies. In those cases
when undeliverable, unnegotiated and/or
otherwise unpaid checks are returned to the
Treasury disbursing centers, the FMS merely
cancels the checks and returns the respective
funds to the agencies that originally
certified the payments.
For you to determine whether any unclaimed funds are being
held by the Federal government, you must determine the type
of benefit or payment that could be involved, the date on
which the payment was expected, and the manner in which the
check should have been drawn. With this information, the agency
responsible for certifying any payment due should be able
to assist you in determining the current status of any payment
involved. The titles and addresses for all Federal agencies
are available in The United States Government Manual, which
should be available in public libraries. Our research into
this question suggests that most of the claims involve FHA
mortgages, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Department
of Housing and Urban Development. If you are interested in
tracing funds that may be due you, this may be a good place
to start.
Each year, over 15,000 savings bonds and 25,000 payments
return to the Department of the Treasury as undeliverable.
In addition, over $9 billion worth of savings bonds have stopped
earning interest, but haven't been cashed. The Bureau
of Public Debt offers a web-based service that enables
citizens to see whether they own savings bonds that were unable
to be delivered or are owed money for savings bonds, Treasury
bills, Treasury notes, or Treasury bonds. This service is
available on the Treasury
Hunt website.
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