If you’re looking for a resolution to make for the new year, here’s a suggestion.
We’d all like to find a way to bring in some extra cash, right? So check to see if you have unclaimed property in your name.
The Pennsylvania Treasury is holding more than $4 billion in unclaimed property. There’s about $59 million for individuals, businesses, organizations and governments in Lehigh County, and about $56 million for Northampton County.
About 1 of every 10 state residents has money or other valuables in their name, waiting to be claimed.
The average value of a claim is $1,500, so a search could jump start your resolution to do better financially in the new year.
Searching can be done for free through the Pennsylvania Treasury’s website, patreasury.gov.
The state recently made it easier for residents to search for unclaimed property in other states where they have lived, too.
Pennsylvania joined missingmoney.com. The website searches unclaimed property in databases for 46 states; Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; and Alberta, Canada.
If you find something, you can submit a claim through that website. The claim details will be transferred to the state that is holding the property. If your claim is accepted, the state will send instructions by email or letter for how to cash out.
Cashing out in Pennsylvania got easier in 2022 because the state Treasury upgraded its system. The update, the first in more than 15 years, allows claims to be submitted online instead of requiring them to be sent by mail.
Claims-processing times are shorter. Some claims can be approved immediately if claimants can answer a handful of questions to verify their identity and prove the property is theirs.
“You can do it right from your phone,” Treasurer Stacy Garrity told me.
Nearly 72,000 “fast-track” claims totaling $12.6 million have been approved since that process began in June. Fast-track claims are limited to $5,000 or less.
The new system also allows claims to be paid through direct deposit. Payments previously were made by mailing a check.
Treasury started offering direct deposit in early November. About 14% of all payments were made via direct deposit in the first month it was available.
The Treasury is on pace to return more than $200 million in unclaimed property in fiscal year 2022-23, Garrity told me. In 2021-22, about $142 million was returned.
She attributed that to the new system processing claims faster, and to Treasury having more staff to process claims. Some staff had been reassigned to process unemployment compensation claims at the height of the pandemic and were returned to their usual roles.
Unclaimed property comes from a variety of sources. It could be proceeds from a bank account or CD you forgot about, from an insurance payment you didn’t know you had coming, from dormant stocks and bonds or from a credit you had with a merchant or vendor. After a period of time has passed, the money must be turned over to the state.
Not all unclaimed property is cash.
Items from bank safety deposit boxes are sent to the state after there is no activity on the box for a number of years. The Treasury also receives items that were left behind at colleges and nursing homes. And police departments turn over things they recover from thieves that they can’t return to their rightful owner.
All of those items are stored in an underground vault in Harrisburg.
Garrity led me on a tour of the vault recently. There are 145 large drawers and several display cases secured in six cages that hold treasures including jewelry, silver table settings, a silver bar, coins and even a $1,000 bill.
During my visit, there were several guitars along with brand new televisions in their original boxes. Historical items include letters from Albert Einstein and Lyndon Johnson.
The state generally holds tangible property for three years and then auctions it. Two auctions are held annually, and the proceeds are held indefinitely for the owners or their heirs to claim.
The only items that are not auctioned are military medals and related items such as dog tags. Many are carefully arranged in display cases.
I wrote several years ago about a Pen Argyl man who was reunited with his long-lost military commendations that were left behind at a bank when he moved.
Garrity is a retired Army Reserve colonel who was commander of the 744th Military Police Battalion in Bethlehem. She told me she has prioritized returning war commendations and has returned 319 since taking office in 2021.
The state unclaimed property website won’t tell you exactly how much money may be available to you. It will tell you whether the value is less than or greater than $100, and who turned over the money or item to the Treasury.
The Treasury is always receiving new money and other valuables. If you don’t find anything in your name when you check, that doesn’t mean you won’t have something in the future.
Make it a resolution to check at the start of every year.
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