Is this ethical

[jeff of pa]

IF I HAVE TO STOP THIS CAR AND COME BACK THERE YOU GUYS LOOK OUT! SOUND FAMILIAR HEHEHEHE SORRY JEFF

Yea, tell me about it

No more LONG TRIPS, from now on,
Their going to the Babysitters ! :P

Thanks dekalb,
The Comedy Relief was needed

 

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[wirelessworldinc]

I have not cashed any checks and would never do that. There were two checks which came a year apart and both times they were shredded. I do appreciate everyone's comments and opinions. I did get some good information as where to start looking for the niece. I had an uncle who decided to leave town and never return because he got in some problems with drugs. It took me 10 years to finally track him down. I had his social security number and finally located him by the social security office who told me he had passed away.

 

[Lcplthogersen]

In general if you make the choice that benefits the other guy you will reap benefits yourself in one way or another. What goes around truely does come around. I would track down the people and explain the situation. Hope for the best and recognize it wasn't mine in the first place so I would have no expectations only hopes. lol

 

[Gypsy Heart]

IF I HAVE TO STOP THIS CAR AND COME BACK THERE YOU GUYS LOOK OUT! SOUND FAMILIAR HEHEHEHE SORRY JEFF

Yea, tell me about it

No more LONG TRIPS, from now on,
Their going to the Babysitters ! :P

Thanks dekalb,
The Comedy Relief was needed

Hey Hey Hey I was nice....now can I have the window seat And dekalb is kicking me....and are we there yet ?I 'm hungry .....are we there yet?

 

[gldhntr]

quote from above''''''''''I believe in treating people the way that I want to be treated.What goes around comes around. Its obvious that you have a conscience or you wouldn't have brought the subject up. You already know the answer... if you follow your gut instinct its amazing how good you will feel....just my two cents worth....Steve.............best answer i see............g

 

[jeff of pa]

Reality check : We don't know the essential truth. We are all Pixels on this bus.

A long time ago I received dividends--but quarterly. So if we speaking pixelly about two checks I pixelly over-reacted.



Cyn

Cyn, Did you Just Apologize ?

Is there A Blizzard on the way ? :P

Well I guess I won't let you at the Babysitters after all


wirelessworldinc :
A Late Welcome to TreasureNet, I hope you stay
around for a long time.

Please Keep us up on what happens,

If you find the Niece.

IF you have a Full Name, and a state,
You May be able Google a Phone book
for the area.

HAPPY HUNTING !
Jeff

 

[KalamazooHunter]

When you said you've been getting them for 2 years I thought we were talking about a ton of checks, didn't realize once a year.

But I'd still just let the family know and hope for the best but expect the worst(no reward)

Welcome to the board!

Tara

 

[wirelessworldinc]

When I got the first check last year I shredded it and thought no more about it cause the old lady was deceased. Then this year I get another one and I made a copy of it and shredded that check. I threw the copy in a drawer and forgot about it until last week I came across it and while reading posts here I thought I would try to get some information as to what everyone thought. I really enjoy this site and enjoy reading the posts everyday.
Mary ann

 

[warthog steve]

8)HONESTY-THE BEST POLICY.ENOUGH SAID..... 8)

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

=NIGHT WIND link=topic=32915.msg224839#msg224839 date=1143916920]
8)HONESTY-THE BEST POLICY.ENOUGH SAID..... 8)
***************
A) Unless you are a Presidential, congressional, senatorial, or cabinet aspirant. ehhehe
then the opposite appears tobe a pre-requirement.

Till Eulenspiegle

 

[Will_detect4food]

I had a company contact me once, they stated that I had 313 dollars in unclaimed monies and for a fee of 49 bucks the would send me the balance, I said yes and got a check for 264
I didn't know anything about it and wouldn't have if they had not contacted me, so i was happy

 

[treasurekidd]

My Personal Suggestion, tell them, and hope for a Thank You Reward. If you Don't get one, feel good about yourself.

I think Jeff's advice is the best advice. A few years ago, I found a paperback book in the parking lot at a beach, with someones paycheck in it as a bookmark! I recognized the street in the address, and even though it was several miles out of our way, we drove it over to the street, found the house, and returned it. It turned out to belong to a teenage lifeguard, and he was as happy to get it back as he was suprised that someone would do that. One of the best feelings in life is to see the smile of thanks, and to be called, and this is a quote, a "true good samaritan". Really makes you feel good inside, where it counts. Besides, as they say, what comes around, goes around.

Track down the neice, who shouldn't be to hard to find. If she was at the closing, then her name and possibly contact information could be obtained from your closing documents, or through the lawyer who handled the closing. Let her know about the money, and then, if she is as good a person as you, you may receive a reward. Even if you don't, at least you can look at yourself in the mirror and feel good about a good deed done. Best of luck to you!

 

[spez401]

I know this is a little late, but I just came across the topic and read through the whole thing.

I'm an attorney in RI. Any attempt by someone other than the named party on the check, or his or her power of attorney, or estate, would be committing bank fraud. If you want the exact statute (here in RI) that this would violate, let me know and i'll post it. Here, it is a felony. Fraud, obtaining money under false pretenses, and conversion. It would be no different than someone other than me trying to cash my paycheck without my permission.

Tampering with the mail IS a Federal offense. However, this tampering also requires an element of "intent". Opening mail that has been erroneously delivered to your home on a continual basis does not constitute tampering. There is no intent to defraud, or commit a crime. That being said, opening the mail for investigative purposes, and then failing to notify the parties involved may look bad for you. Enough to arise to a criminal complaint? Probably not.

Here, the practical answer is as follows. You have no ethical duty to notify either the company sending the checks, nor the estate of the deceased. The estate should have done a more thourough investigation to discover assets, and the company made the efforts to deliver the dividends. The checks currently being held are likely no longer of any value. Most have either a 90 day, 6 month, or 1 year shelf life. The only criminal liabilty would be if one attempted to cash those checks. Asking the administrator or executor of the estate for a reward of some kind is neither unethical nor practical. If the party died 4 years ago, likely the estate has been closed, assets sold off (eg... the house), and any heirs have already received thier inheritances.

I would suggest contacting the executor of the estate and notifying them that you received some dividend checks for the deceased party. It is then up to them whether or not to pursue any debt the company may owe to the estate. The only benefit here , to you, is Karma... what goes around comes around. no good deed goes unpunished. Dont worry about any "criminal liability". There is none there.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me
Steve

 

[oldsoldier]

Hi everyone. I'm a newbie in the THing world. In fact, my wife went with me to the Whites dealer here in Harrisburg area, and she caught the bug too. We'll be heading to the Florida Gulf Coast in Oct for 9 days and hope to make some nice finds.

My reply to the topic: Is it ethical?

Years ago my daughter was leaving a drug store and found a bank envelope laying on the ground with several hundred dollars. She brought it home and asked what to do. I asked her what she would like to happen if SHE were the one who had lost the envelope. She called the bank, asked if anyone had reported anything missing, and what it was. They immediately discribed it exactly. She returned the envelope to them, and they in turn to a very happy construction worker who lives from paycheck to paycheck (what was in the envelope).

While traveling to a welding job one day near Hershey, PA I saw what looked like a wallet laying on the ground near an intersection. I recovered it, and indeed it was a ladies wallet packed full of cash, credit cards, ID, etc. I looked her phone # up using the address on her drivers license. She picked it up the next day and offered me a reward. I refused, explaining to her that I would hope someone would return the gesture if I were on the losing end. What intrigued me about this lost wallet is this: She drives a pickup truck. She had placed the wallet on the bed rail. She drove over 10 miles with that on the rail before it fell off.

Ethics? He sees all... God bless you all.

 

[MAINE HILLS HUNTER]

If you have to ask then it is probably not!

 

[MalteseFalcon]

I had a company contact me once, they stated that I had 313 dollars in unclaimed monies and for a fee of 49 bucks the would send me the balance, I said yes and got a check for 264
I didn't know anything about it and wouldn't have if they had not contacted me, so i was happy

They took advantage of you. Such information is freely available through your state treasury department.
But, that was still $264 you did not have before.

I found out only 4 months ago that I had some unclaimed money in the state where I used to live. Just by looking on the internet.
Did some checking and found I had 13 dollars from a savings account I had opened in 1982 with only 5.
So I came out ahead on the deal....8 dollars profit on 5 dollars lol.

 

[Darren in NC]

I had a company contact me once, they stated that I had 313 dollars in unclaimed monies and for a fee of 49 bucks the would send me the balance, I said yes and got a check for 264
I didn't know anything about it and wouldn't have if they had not contacted me, so i was happy

They took advantage of you. Such information is freely available through your state treasury department.

They were not taken advantage of. They agreed to a set price for the information. Will_detect4food said, "...they stated that I had 313 dollars in unclaimed monies and for a fee of 49 bucks the would send me the balance, I said yes and got a check for 264."

You can buy info at Barnes and Noble for $30 or the same info on eBay for $10. If I agree then it's my choice. Congrats on finding your money!

Best,
Darren

 

[gldhntr]

foundmoney.com will check many depositories for cash in your name...i did it by phone and it cost 19 bucks i think...states treasury offices and fed offices contact info has been posted on this site by me awhile back regarding unclaimed funds, and searching them is free............gldhntr

 

[grizzly bare]

There is an entire cottage industry based on contacting folks who are owed refunds on MMI/PMI that they paid on houses over the years. Previously this was available on the net for free, now it must be ferreted out by a careful bank /court search. If I was contacted by a person who said, "You may be owed Xamount and we will try to find out for 25% of the refund", I would gladly and cheerfully ask them to proceed.
I see this as no different. Steve seems to have nailed the legalities for all of us. (Nothing illegal)
Obviously we see many attempts to return lost property here on TNet. Think of the class rings which have been returned to grateful owners. But how many of us try to get in touch with those kind souls who have lost the fifty cents we find? Here the "finder" of the information owes nothing to the estate. Offering to sell information is a time honored tradition.

Just my opinion

Jim Johnson
grizzly bare

 

[gldhntr]

link to info posted above concerning free state and federal money searches http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,28855.0.html