State Treasurer Riley Moore today announced his Unclaimed Property Division returned more than $3.5 million in unclaimed property to citizens, businesses governments and other organizations during the month of February.
“We had a strong month of unclaimed property payouts, and we are working diligently to improve how quickly and easily we can return money,” Treasurer Moore said. “Thanks to recently passed legislation, in the coming months we will be able to streamline the claims process so our citizens can be reunited with their money as quickly as possible.”
During the recent legislative session, lawmakers passed House Bill 4511, which modernizes the state’s unclaimed property laws and reduces the amount of paperwork required to complete many transactions. The bill also creates a new automated program for processing some common claims to get checks to people faster.
“Once this bill is signed into law and takes effect, it will revolutionize how we process unclaimed property in our state,” Treasurer Moore said. “This is part of our ongoing efforts to modernize the Treasurer’s Office and make it more efficient for West Virginians.”
In addition to the new bill, the Treasurer’s Office this month launched a new map feature on the unclaimed property website that allows users to view how much unclaimed property is available in a city or county.
To view the interactive map, visit the website, wv.findyourunclaimedproperty.com, select the “Claiming Property” drop-down menu tab and click on “Map of Available Property.”
What is Unclaimed Property?
Unclaimed property can include financial accounts or items of value in which the owner has not initiated any activity for one year or longer. Common examples include unpaid life insurance benefits, forgotten bank accounts and unused rebate cards. (While the title includes the word “property,” it does not however include real estate.)
West Virginia’s unclaimed property laws protect the public by ensuring money and property owed to them is returned to them, rather than remaining permanently with financial institutions, business associations, governments and other entities. The Treasurer seeks to reunite the unclaimed property, including uncashed paychecks, stocks, or safe deposit box contents, with its owner.
Nationwide, nearly 33 million people in the United States – one in every 10 – are estimated to have unclaimed property available for them to claim.
How Can I Find Unclaimed Property in My Name?
West Virginians searching for lost financial assets can go to www.wvtreasury.com, then click on the large Unclaimed Property “Search” button to the right of the page under the heading, “Are We Holding Your Money?” In addition to finding property, the www.wvtreasury.com website will also help you track a claim.
A demonstration of how to use the Unclaimed Property search site is available on the Treasury’s YouTube page, at: https://youtu.be/K09yQ7YNKlE.
To search for lost financial assets outside West Virginia, visit www.FindMyFunds.com or www.MissingMoney.com.