State Treasurer Riley Moore visited Wheeling on Tuesday, June 6, to present an unclaimed property check totaling nearly $85,000 to benefit WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital.
“As State Treasurer, returning unclaimed funds to individuals and businesses around West Virginia is an honor, and I’m delighted to reunite Wheeling Hospital with a large sum of lost funds that will be used to support the greater Wheeling community,” Treasurer Moore said.
Treasurer Moore presented an unclaimed property check worth $84,953.13 to Wheeling Hospital CEO Doug Harrison, Associate Vice President of Foundations and Community Relations Jessica Rine and Tax Accountant Cassidy Simonson on Tuesday morning.
“It was a pleasant surprise to receive these funds from the State Treasurer’s Office,” Harrison said. “We are going to use these funds for our foundation, which supports programs and services for members of the community.”
“Additionally, we are in the process of designing a regional cancer center, and this money will go a long way in supporting our hospital’s initiatives,” Harrison said.
Treasurer Moore recently announced that his Office has topped a new the state record by returning over $20.7 million in unclaimed property during this fiscal year. With more than $300 million in unclaimed property listings for individuals, businesses and other organizations, Treasurer Moore encourages everyone to visit www.WVUnclaimedProperty.com to search and see if they have any money available to claim.
Individuals can also share unclaimed property listings with their families and friends by using his Unclaimed Property Division’s new online SMS tool.
Pictured left to right: Associate Vice President of Foundations and Community Relations Jessica Rine, State Treasurer Riley Moore, Wheeling Hospital CEO Doug Harrison, Tax Accountant Cassidy Simonson
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.