If you recently received a call/letter from us, that means you or someone you might know may be the rightful recipient or heir to a refund or asset that has gone unclaimed. We monitor state government agencies nationwide to see who has refunds or assets owed to them. In this case, we came across a refund or asset that may be due to you or someone you may know. So, we are reaching out to you to offer our services in recovering those funds for you. If you have been contacted by us recently, consider it good news!
The phrase refers to anything owed to you or your family that you are unaware exists. There are a number of reasons why you or your family could be owed money that you don’t know about. The refund/asset could be the result of property, stocks or bonds, insurance policies, royalties, rentals, wages, tax refunds-or a number of other possibilities. By the time we contact you, most assets have been reduced to a monetary figure and are being held by a variety of agencies or parties. Hostono and Associates has located millions of dollars being held in individuals’ names. In most cases the laws regarding these funds don’t require the party holding the refunds/assets to make more than a cursory attempt at locating the beneficiary, meaning that without our research, that money would go unclaimed and eventually forfeited to the government agency holding the funds.
Surprisingly, we get this question a lot and it’s completely understandable. You get a random call from a random organization you never heard of saying they found money waiting for you. Sounds too good to be true, right?
To put our clients at ease, we work on a contingency-fee basis. That means we don’t charge anything until you get paid. No payment information or sensitive information is required upfront. All we need is your authorization to allow us to present your case to the state government agency and attempt to recovery the funds on your behalf. That’s it! If successful, once we receive the funds, the amount will be split based upon the written agreement we enter into prior to submitting your case. And, in the rare case we’re unable to recover the funds, we don’t charge you a dime. It’s a 100% risk free process.
When we locate unclaimed or lost refunds/assets for people, we go to great lengths to make sure they receive them. We have highly sophisticated software developed for that reason, and subscribe to several national and international databases as well. Our investigators search public records such as voter registrations, telephone directories, driver’s records, birth and death certificates, change of address filings, marriage and divorce filings and military registers as well as genealogical and historical records.
Hostono & Associate follows a strict Privacy Policy and guarantees we will only use your information for the purposes of resolving your claim.
No. We are not a collection agency. In fact, you could say we are the opposite of a collection agency. A call from us means that we have found money or other assets that you are entitled to claim. In other words, someone owes you money or assets. Hostono & Associates specializes in locating unclaimed and lost refunds/assets, contacting the individuals and businesses with the right to claim those refunds/assets, and assisting them in completing the claims process. A call or letter from us is great news!
Any number of different entities could be holding your refund/asset. Hostono & Associates usually locates lost or unclaimed refunds/assets being held by entities other than state abandoned property offices, so they cannot be located through an internet search. Once you return the completed paperwork, a claims professional will be able to provide more specific information.
Refunds/assets may be the result of an inheritance, lost payments/returns on property, businesses or insurance policies purchased years ago by a member of your family. Over time, mistakes get made on names and addresses and people move, get married, use nicknames, or change their names for other reasons so that it becomes hard for entities to locate beneficiaries. In some cases, laws allow entities to invest the refunds/assets and eventually absorb those that remain unclaimed. So, there is little incentive for the refund/asset holder to make more than a cursory attempt at locating beneficiaries.
If we have already contacted you, the first step is to complete and return the contingency agreement. This agreement spells out the terms and conditions in easy-to-understand terms and provides Hostono & Associates with the authority to act on your behalf while working on the claim. After we receive all the required paperwork, a claims professional will contact you with any further needs and keep you up to date on the status of your claim.
That can vary depending on the type and complexity of your claim or the entity holding the refund/asset. The average claims process can take between six weeks up to six months (more complexed cases can take six months to eighteen months to complete once the claim is filed). Highly complexed cases can take several years to complete. After receiving all the necessary paperwork, your claims professional will be able to provide a more accurate timeline based on your particular claim.
We will do everything possible to expedite your claim, but in many cases there are no laws mandating when refund/asset holders must release the assets, so the refund/asset holder dictates the length of your wait. Remember, we operate on a contingency-fee basis and require no payment until your refund/asset are returned, so it is in our best interest to move as quickly as possible.
There is no easy answer to that question. Every claim is unique, and refund/asset holders are regulated by a variety of different laws. Refunds and assets held by the State Abandoned Property Offices usually have either lengthy or no time limits, but those are not the refunds/assets we normally locate and recover. Many refunds/assets we locate have fairly narrow time windows in which you can file a claim, and some refund/asset holders are allowed to absorb the unclaimed refund after that time period expires. Typically this is around 1-3 years of holding the refund/asset. When we locate refunds and contact potential claimants, we inform them of any relevant claims deadlines. Whether there is a deadline or not, the claims process can be lengthy, so we advise that you return all your paperwork as promptly as possible. The sooner we are able to recover your refund/asset, the sooner you will be able to enjoy it.
If Hostono & Associates notified you of lost or unclaimed refunds/assets it may be possible to claim them on your own. However, if locating lost refunds/assets and filing and following claims were easy, we would not be in business. The process of locating and claiming refunds/assets is challenging and time consuming and has taken years for us to perfect. We’ve found that even people who have located refunds/assets on their own give up in frustration because the claims process is often convoluted and confusing. Because we know the process and have developed solid relationships with refund/asset holders, we can expedite your claim and help you recover refunds/assets faster, while avoiding unnecessary expenses and possible mistakes.
We work on a contingency-fee basis with all terms spelled out in a written agreement signed by Hostono & Associates and you. We advance all expenses incurred in the claims process, so you pay no upfront costs. Once refunds or assets are recovered, we deduct any expenses incurred from the total and you pay us the percentage from the remaining amount, as agreed upon in our written contract. Deducting expenses from the total amount recovered gives you added assurance that we will keep those costs to a minimum. Finally, in the uncommon instance that we are unable to recover your refund/asset, we absorb all expenses and you owe nothing.