The state of residence of an account owner (or if the account owner(s) resides in a foreign country, the state in which the fund company is incorporated), may require us to turn over the assets in the mutual fund account as abandoned property unless contact is initiated by the account owner or an authorized representative with American Funds. Some states have added “inactivity” or the absence of investor-initiated contact as a component of their rules and guidelines for the escheatment of unclaimed property. These states may consider certain property to be abandoned when there is no investor-initiated contact on an account for at least three (3) to five (5) years.

To safeguard the shares in the account owner’s mutual fund account(s) from being deemed abandoned and turned over to the state, it is necessary to affirmatively initiate contact with us.

The notice you received provides the methods for you to affirmatively make contact with us. They are as follows:

• Through this website that was set up specifically for this purpose; or
• By the account owner(s) or authorized representative signing the acknowledgement in the letter received and returning it to the address in the letter; or
• By calling the toll-free number contained in the letter received. Contact may be initiated by entering the control number provided in the notice received and the last four (4) digits of the Social Security number or Taxpayer Identification Number registered on the account over the secure automated phone system when prompted, or by speaking to a customer service representative.
• Please note: Accounts registered in the state of Vermont specify that contact must be made via the funds’ website or in writing. Telephone interaction does not constitute contact under the state’s laws.

Other than the initial setup of the automatic withdrawal option, many states may not consider ongoing automated withdrawals or the reinvestment of dividends as investor-initiated contact.

Investor-initiated contact generally includes:

• Establishing and maintaining ongoing active automatic transactions (varying by state law).
• One-time purchases and redemptions in the mutual fund account.
• Sending a letter to the fund company by the United States Post Office.
• Speaking to a customer service representative on the phone after going through a security verification process.
• Contacting the fund company through their automated phone system, where the account number, Social Security number, or a specific fund identifying number must be provided. Please note: Accounts registered in the state of Vermont specify that contact must be made via the funds’ website or in writing. Telephone interaction does not constitute contact under the state’s laws.
• Directly accessing the account through the funds’ secure Web application.
• Cashing checks that are received and are made payable to the owner of the account. 

Escheatment is the process of turning over unclaimed or abandoned property to a state authority. Escheatment laws require mutual funds to turn over uncashed checks and/or client account fund shares if the owner cannot be located within a length of time determined by each state.

Unclaimed property is any financial asset with no activity by its owner for an extended period of time. (The definition of “activity” varies by state.) This includes mutual fund accounts, savings accounts, checking accounts, unpaid wages or commissions, stocks, underlying shares, uncashed dividend checks, paid-up life insurance policies, safe deposit boxes, and uncashed benefit checks, gift certificates, etc.

The states have unclaimed property laws to:

• Protect the property rights of owners and reunite them with their funds
• Provide a central point of contact for owners to claim unclaimed funds 

Below there are links to the state resources websites where you can review information on recovering escheated financial assets. The states do not permit American Funds to assist you in the recovery process.

For accounts registered under the same Social Security or Taxpayer Identification Number, it is not necessary to initiate a separate contact for each of your accounts with American Funds. Initiating contact on any one of the American Funds’ accounts with the same Social Security number or Taxpayer Identification Number qualifies as contact on all accounts.

However, if there are related accounts with a different Social Security number or Taxpayer Identification Number, the owner or authorized representative does need to initiate a separate contact for those accounts. They can do so by responding to the Notice of Inactivity received. Each Notice of Inactivity is unique to the group of accounts with the same Social Security number or Taxpayer Identification Number and will provide a unique control number.

We encourage the account owner or his/her authorized representative to be proactive and make contact with the fund company on a regular basis going forward. Contact can be by one of the following methods:

• Directly accessing the account through the funds’ secure Web application.
• Contacting the fund company through its automated phone system where the account number, Social Security number, or a specific fund identifying number must be provided.
• Speaking to a customer service representative. Please note: Accounts registered in the state of Vermont specify that contact must be made via the funds’ website or in writing. Telephone interaction does not constitute contact under the state’s laws.
• Cashing checks that are received and are made payable to the owner of the account.
• Sending a letter to the fund company by the United States Post Office. 

You may call the toll-free number listed in the notice you received.

Click on the appropriate state resources below for more information on specific state abandoned property rules and requirements, or to obtain information on how to claim property that has been sent to the state as abandoned.