Treasurer Stacy Garrity Looks to Return ‘Presidential’ Unclaimed Property
Nearly $4 million in unclaimed property waiting for “presidential” Pennsylvanians
Harrisburg, PA - Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced today that more than 11,000 “presidential” Pennsylvanians – including those named Washington and Lincoln – are owed nearly $4 million in unclaimed property being held for safekeeping at the Pennsylvania Treasury.
“Much of the money we use depicts images of past presidents. Presidents’ Day is a great time to remind Pennsylvanians to search Treasury’s unclaimed property database for money that may be owed to them. This unclaimed money — nearly $4 billion — belongs in the hands of hard-working Pennsylvanians. We want to return this property them, and Treasury staff will continue to work tirelessly to do so.”
Pennsylvania State Treasurer, Stacy Garrity
Treasury currently has $3,998,197.22 in property waiting to be claimed by 11,518 Pennsylvanians with Washington, Lincoln, president, and presidential as their first, middle, last or business name. You can search the president-inspired list here.
One in ten Pennsylvanians is owed unclaimed property, and the average claim is worth $2,000. Treasurer Garrity is focused on increasing outreach efforts to return that property to its rightful owners.
Property, such as uncashed checks, abandoned bank accounts or stocks, and contents of safe deposit boxes end up at Treasury for things as simple as a misspelled name or out-of-date address. Pennsylvania law requires these properties be turned over to the Treasury after three years of inactivity, the timeframe is two years for payroll checks.
To help keep property from being turned over to Treasury in the future you can take the following steps:
- Inform your financial institutions of any address changes.
- Communicate with your financial institutions at least once every three years.
- Create and keep up-to-date records of bank accounts, stocks, life insurance policies, safe deposit boxes, and all other financial information.
- Let a family member or trusted advisor know where you keep your financial records.
- Make sure you cash all checks as you receive them.
To see if you have property waiting to be claimed with Treasury, and to start the claims process, visit patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property.
