(The Center Square) – The Oregon State Treasury will proactively return about $10 million in unclaimed property to people starting this month as part of its ‘Checks Without Claims’ initiative.
“We’re excited to reconnect thousands of individuals with their unclaimed funds without requiring any action on their part,” State Treasurer Tobias Read said in a statement. “In addition to collecting and safeguarding Oregonians’ unclaimed property, Treasury is committed to returning these assets and helping to bolster our citizen’s financial well-being.”
Through the initiative, the Treasury will issue payments to verified owners of unclaimed property that were reported to the state’s Unclaimed Property Program in 2021 and 2022.
“Payments, via check, will be mailed to individuals this month and accompanied by an additional confirmation letter from the Treasurer,” the release said.
In 2023, the state’s ‘Checks Without Claims’ program reconnected over 18,000 people from 48 states with money that belonged to them.
The ‘Checks Without Claims’ is one of many initiatives in Oregon that attempts to reconnect its residents with over $1 billion in unclaimed money the state currently holds.
“Payments distributed through ‘Checks Without Claims’ represent unclaimed property reported to the state in 2021 and 2022 by various businesses and organizations that were unable to return funds to the rightful owner,” the release said. “Common examples of unclaimed property include uncashed checks, forgotten bank accounts, tax refunds, credit balances, investment accounts, payroll checks, refunds, and more.”
Almost one in seven Americans has unclaimed property, the release said. In fiscal year 2023 alone, over $5.4 billion in unclaimed property nationwide was returned to its rightful owners, according to the release.
Usually, people must file a claim with Oregon’s Unclaimed Property Program and fill out the verification process to get the money the state owes them.
“Treasury conducts ‘Checks Without Claims’ to proactively verify some owners of unclaimed assets and facilitate payments directly to them,” the release said.
Checks issued will vary in size between $50 and $10,000.
More information about the initiative can be found here.
