State Treasurer Riley Moore visited Wheeling on Thursday, December 7, to present an unclaimed property check worth more than $84,000 to benefit WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital – funds to be used for a new pediatric outpatient center.
“I’m thrilled to partner with Wheeling Hospital once again to return their unclaimed funds,” Treasurer Moore said. “This year, my Office’s Unclaimed Property Division has reunited Wheeling Hospital with nearly $170,000 worth of its unclaimed property, and I’m proud these funds are being used to support the hospital’s innovative approach to providing high-quality healthcare services to the greater Wheeling community.”
Treasurer Moore presented an unclaimed property check worth $84,097.57 to Wheeling Hospital President and CEO Doug Harrison and Associate Vice President of Foundations and Community Relations Jessica Rine Thursday morning at the hospital.
“We are very grateful to the State of West Virginia and the Treasurer’s Office,” President and CEO Doug Harrison said. “This is the second unclaimed property check we’ve received from the State Treasurer’s Office, and we are going to put these funds towards our new pediatric outpatient center that we're currently fundraising for — it is meaningful to know that this money is going to help children in the valley.”
Treasurer Moore recently launched a new partnership with the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles that will promote the Treasurer’s Office’s unclaimed property program at DMV locations statewide. Unclaimed property ads and signage will be displayed at all 26 DMV regional offices to inform patrons about the state’s program.
Additionally, patrons will be able to check if they have unclaimed property on their phones by scanning available QR codes that will take users directly to the Treasurer’s Office’s online unclaimed property database.
The Treasurer’s Office currently has more than $400 million worth of unclaimed property listings in its database available for claim. Treasurer Moore encourages everyone to visit www.WVUnclaimedProperty.gov to see if his Office is holding any money for you or your family.
Pictured Left to Right: Wheeling Hospital President and CEO Doug Harrison, State Treasurer Riley Moore, Wheeling Hospital Associate Vice President of Foundations and Community Relations Jessica Rine
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.gov 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.