Have you ever overlooked a refund that never arrived in the mail? Forgotten to pick up that last paycheck, or cash in a stock option? Lost the contents of a safety deposit box?
It all might be sitting at a government office in Richmond.
The unclaimed property division of the Virginia Treasury currently holds about $2 billion of other people’s money — and some of it could be yours.
The concept of what’s known as “escheat” goes back to feudal England, according to NPR’s Planet Money podcast. It’s what happens when things people don’t claim — retirement accounts, dividends, savings — get sent to the state, which takes control of the property on behalf of its citizens.
“Think of it as like a giant state-run lost and found,” said Planet Money host Kenny Malone.
Each year about $10 billion in the U.S. gets collected like this, about two-thirds of which stays unclaimed.
“Something has got to be missed along the way,” said Diana Shaban, spokeswoman for Virginia’s unclaimed property division. “An ‘i’ wasn’t dotted, a ‘t’ wasn’t crossed. You were supposed to get a refund check for $5 mailed to you but you never received it and you didn’t think anything more of it.”
In those situations, she said, the company that should’ve paid you still has that amount in its books. Whether it’s the next year or several down the line, depending on the industry, by law it must be reported to the state.
“That amount stays in our system forever until the rightful owner files a claim,” Shaban said.
One caveat is for items, which are sold at an annual auction after going unclaimed for a year. The state simply can’t store them all. Money earned from the auction is then held for the owner.
About one in four Virginians has unclaimed property, Shaban said. That could range to a penny’s worth to a million dollars. You never know until you check.
The state makes it easy to do so. At vamoneysearch.org, you can search for yourself, your business or a deceased loved one for whom you’re a beneficiary. If your online search yields results, the state will send a claim form via email or snail mail.
While it’s unclaimed, the $2 billion doesn’t just sit and gather dust. Most is deposited in Virginia’s literary fund for K-12 education. The department holds back a portion to pay for the division’s activities, and another part is reserved to pay claims as they come in.
But Shaban emphasized it’s all still on record with the treasury and available for the rightful owners when they come looking.
Division officials often hold in-person events to help citizens look up what they’ve lost, but have pivoted to virtual events during the pandemic. A single virtual event in Virginia Beach in November found $196,000 for residents after running 352 names, Shaban said.
The state returned $67.8 million to Virginians in the 2020 fiscal year. Since the commonwealth’s program began in 1961, $912 million has been reclaimed.
Last year, the state reached out to the Salvation Army to notify them of nearly $90,000 in unclaimed assets, including a life insurance policy they didn’t know of that named the charity as a beneficiary.
Shaban also recalls helping find a woman whose husband had died, leaving behind funds from a business. The widow ended up receiving more than $100,000 she hadn’t known about.
Another woman found a dozen gold bars her deceased father had put in her name.
It’s easy to come across scam sites that charge a finder’s fee, Shaban warned. She emphasized that the state does not charge a fee or require a citizen’s social security number (though one step in the online tool gives users the option to provide it).
If you’ve lived in multiple states, you can also check missingmoney.com for a centralized search.
Shaban recommends not only searching for lost money, but making sure to keep it in the first place. Check on banking or retirement accounts at least once a year, she said — otherwise some might consider it inactive.
In the meantime, she said, people have “nothing to lose” and everything to gain from searching their name.
During any of Virginia’s virtual events — but only for the duration — citizens can call 1-833-302-0704 for assistance. There are two coming up: Thursday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Feb. 1. At other times people can call 1-800-468-1088 or message ucpmail@trs.virginia.gov for claims questions. The online search tool is encouraged.
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