A Nice Surprise from Alabama

And not Pumpkin Praline Popcorn!

I have to admit I was a doubter.

I had seen ads for "Unclaimed Property" for years but never thought to check to see if I had any.  Frankly, I figured it was either something shady or a big waste of time.

For some reason, I clicked on the website one day and just typed in the name "Windham."   I did it for all the states we've lived in.  Much to my surprise, my name appeared twice  in Alabama - once for AAA for less than $100 and one for Alphastaff (one of the companies I worked for) for more than $100.

I did a good bit of checking on this and didn't see that it was a hoax.  I knew my chances were pretty slim of ever receiving money, but I went ahead and filed the 2 claims.

Then I got back a letter saying I had to send a copy of my driver's license and my social security number.  That was nearly a deal breaker.  Mike had not lived in Alabama long enough to know Young Boozer was a real name.

I called the number for the Alabama Treasury Department, and they assured me it was legit and that nothing would happen to my information.

So I did it and forgot about it.

A month or so later, I did a check on the filed claims, and I read that the information had been received and they were waiting on something.

I could check the progress of the claim every week or so when I thought about it.  It was slow going,

Unclaimed Property Division Welcome to the State of Alabama Unclaimed Property Membership Section Listed data contains all claims and the status of the claims you have made with the State of Alabama. Claim ID Status Status Date 5234212 Claim submitted for payment 9/28/2016 5229557 Claim submitted for payment 9/28/2016 5234212 Payment processed. 9/28/2016 5229557 Payment processed. 9/28/2016 5229557 CLAIM APPROVED - Payment has been requested 9/23/2016 5234212 CLAIM APPROVED - Payment has been requested 9/23/2016 5234212 Claim is awaiting final review and approval 9/19/2016 5229557 Claim is awaiting final review and approval 9/19/2016 5234212 Claim form was received and is being processed 9/12/2016 5229557 Claim form was received and is being processed 9/12/2016 5234212 Awaiting return of your completed claim form 9/6/2016 5234212 Claim received by State for processing 9/3/2016 Even after seeing that, I still doubted that it would happen.  But I received these 2 checks last Friday.  The other one is for $57.  I still have no idea why.  We had a AAA membership, but I don't know why I would have had a refund.  With my job, it could have been something to do with taxes or maybe a class-action lawsuit that my name was on.  Who knows? It's a nice little bonus though, and I'm glad I was persistent, and I'll probably check again next year.