TREASURER MOORE PRESENTS UNCLAIMED PROPERTY CHECK TOTALING NEARLY $43,000 TO WVU HOSPITALS
State Treasurer Riley Moore visited J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown on Thursday, May 18, to present an unclaimed property check worth nearly $43,000 to benefit West Virginia University Hospitals.
“My Office has been working hard to modernize our processes to reunite individuals, businesses and organizations with their unclaimed funds,” Treasurer Moore said. “I’m proud to partner with WVU Hospitals to return their unclaimed property funds so they can continue providing exceptional care to their patients throughout the state.”
Treasurer Moore presented an unclaimed property check worth $42,976.99 to Michael Grace, Ed.D., M.B.A., president of WVU Hospitals.
“We are grateful to State Treasurer Riley Moore and his Office for the funds they provided us last week,” Grace said. “It was a very pleasant and much appreciated surprise.
“Some of our patients travel great distances to receive care here, and that travel often comes at a great personal financial burden,” Grace said. “Our Care Management team does a wonderful job assisting those patients and their families with assistance with gas cards, food and sometimes even lodging. We will use these funds to help those patients.”
Recently, Treasurer Moore announced that his Office returned $1.6 million worth of unclaimed property to individuals, businesses and organizations during the month of April, pushing fiscal year-to-date returns past $20 million for the first time in state history. His Unclaimed Property Division also launched a new online SMS text feature that allows users to easily share unclaimed property listings with their families and friends.
Treasurer Moore said unclaimed property funds are being turned over to his Unclaimed Property Division every day and his Office has more than $300 million in listings for individuals, businesses and other organizations. He encouraged everyone to visit www.wvtreasury.com and click on the “Search” button to see if the Office is holding any assets in their name.
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.WVUnclaimedProperty.com to search if their name or business is listed in the database. You can also file a claim or check its status as that website. Individuals can also still visit 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?,” which will redirect them to the unclaimed property website.
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.MissingMoney.com.