The Tennessee Department of Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Division returned $65.4 million of cash property to the rightful owners or their heirs, local governments, and reciprocal states during fiscal year 2019, according to the Tennessee Department of the Treasury’s website.
“This amount is the most money the Department has ever returned in a single fiscal year. The Unclaimed Property Division also returned more claims than ever before. From July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019, the Division returned 62,549 claims, breaking last year’s record high of 48,425 by nearly 30 percent,” the website said.
“Unclaimed property is money that has been turned over to the state by businesses and organizations who cannot locate the owners. This includes intangible assets such as bank accounts, stock certificates, checks, unclaimed wages, refunds, and gift certificates. The Tennessee Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Division serves as a consumer protection program working to reunite this money with its rightful owner.”
Treasury Department officials work to return missing money to rightful owners through various means, according to the department’s website.
“The Unclaimed Property Division sends letters to all last known addresses reported when unclaimed property is turned over, as well as running a Social Security match with the Department of Labor and Workforce, who can help reach owners through their employers,” according to the Treasury’s website. “Additionally, the Department does outreach at events across Tennessee throughout the year to help raise awareness of the program and be on-hand to answer questions, help constituents search for unclaimed property, and assist with filing claims.”
As of June 30, 2019, there is $976.8 million waiting to be claimed. Anyone can see if they are owed any missing money by searching their name online at www.ClaimItTN.gov, and may file a claim online if they find unclaimed property belonging to them.
“The online database contains all unclaimed property in Tennessee dating to the beginning of the program. Treasury recommends searching for common misspellings of your name and addresses as well, as that may be why the business was unable to return the money to you initially,” according to the Treasury’s website.
“Though there was no mandatory period for businesses to turn over unclaimed property to the state this year due to recent legislative changes, $31 million of cash property was still turned over to the Treasurer during fiscal year 2019. An additional $14.7 million in proceeds from stock sales was recognized as revenue.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
