Art Pope spends a lot of money to complain about how much money the government is taking away from him. It would seem odd then that when the government is taking good care of his money and wants to give it back to him he doesn't seem to want it back.

According to the NC State Treasurer:

Unclaimed property consists of bank accounts, wages, utility deposits, insurance policy proceeds, stocks, bonds, and contents of safe deposit boxes that typically have been abandoned for one to five years. Funds become unclaimed because the company loses track of the consumer, due to an incorrect address or other missing information. By law, these funds are escheated, or turned over, to the Department of State Treasurer for safekeeping.

The Treasurer's Office keeps track of these assets in the NC Cash program, a database of unclaimed cash and property and their rightful owners. The State Treasurer takes custody of the assets when attempts to locate the true owners have failed and makes various efforts to make people aware of the unclaimed property.

What attempts are made to find the rightful owners?

Under the law, the holders (the entity which has possession of the property, i.e. banks, insurance companies, credit unions, etc.) must make a good faith effort to locate the true owner. If they are unsuccessful, they are to report the names and last known address of the owners to the State Treasurer. By statute, a list is sent to all the Clerks of Court in North Carolina. Also, the Department of State Treasurer is required to post a notice in at least two newspapers stating the nature of the lists and that the lists are available for inspection at the offices of the respective clerks of superior court. Additionally, the Department of State Treasurer has developed and implemented a statewide outreach and public awareness effort that includes setting up booths at various fairs, street festivals and conventions, asking for assistance from members of the General Assembly as well as local governmental offices in locating rightful owners, and working with the media to encourage people to check for unclaimed property on our website, www.NCCash.com

Some of that outreach involves identifying the unclaimed property of well known personalities with a view to publicizing the availability of unclaimed cash and property. Surprisingly, according to the Treasurer's office, many such personalities decline the opportunity to reclaim their property, deeming the relatively simple process too much trouble.

The NC Cash database shows well over a dozen records of unclaimed property in the name of James [Arthur] Pope in Raleigh. In addition there are various records of unclaimed in the names of Maxway, Roses, John Locke Foundation, Value Mart, Super 10 and, Variety Wholesalers, all enterprises associated with Pope. Kudos to State Treasurer Janet Cowell for taking good care of Art Pope's money. Perhaps Mr Pope just doesn't want to admit that the government can be a good steward. Perhaps it's chump change to him. You might think that with all the effort he and his surrogates make to denigrate government and its control of his money he would be first in line to take it back. Yet his money just sits there singing "Money for nothing" and "Call me, maybe?"

It's real simple. Go to: NCCash.com, search for property in your name and, if you find it, claim it.