Washingtonians, You Could Have Money Waiting for You

The Washington State Department of Revenue’s Unclaimed Property Program is apparently breaking records (at least according to a press release from the Department of revenue). According to said press release the program has returned an all-time high of $138.9 million in unclaimed property back to thousands of Washingtonians this past year alone.

The Department of Revenue says that the Unclaimed Property Program is a free public service administered. The money comes from banks (and other businesses) that turn over unclaimed money, stocks, and securities to the program. Then the Department of Revenue holds that property until it is claimed by the rightful owner or heir.

Additionally, Washington state law requires that businesses and other organizations review their records each year to determine whether they hold any of those funds, securities, or other property that has remained unclaimed.

Washington’s Unclaimed Property Administrator Patti Wilson said in the statement, “It is exciting to see the program continue to grow. I started with the Unclaimed Property Program in 1994. That year, we returned $4.4 million. Now we return on average over $11 million per month."

This spring, the Unclaimed Property Program launched the new Money Match Program, with the aim to automatically return unclaimed property to Washingtonians after verifying ownership. Since the new program launched, Unclaimed Property Program has issued 9,104 checks for a total of $1.2 million.

The Department of Revenue advises that Washington residents go to claimyourcash.org to see if any money is waiting for them to claim.

I checked for myself and unfortunately have no unclaimed money in Washington state. I suppose it would help if I had ever had any money, or investments. Oh, well...