PA Treasury giving away billions.
Just like the Steelers, you could be a winner. Well actually you would be claiming what was turned over to the state as unclaimed property.
Each year the treasury department receives hundreds of millions of dollars in unclaimed property. It is responsible for finding the proper owners.
The bureau employs 121 full-time employees and six temporary workers, nearly a quarter of the 520 employees in the department.
The treasury department is custodian of unclaimed property — such as abandoned bank accounts, forgotten stocks, uncashed checks, certificates of deposit, life insurance policies, unredeemed gift cards and safe deposit boxes.
The department is obligated to carry the unclaimed property forever.
Several years ago, the state Department of Revenue turned over the unclaimed property bureau to the Treasury Department. The revenue department’s objective is to make money.
Unclaimed property still earns the state money.
The bulk of unclaimed property is invested with the state’s general fund. No one seems to know exactly how much unclaimed money is invested or how much interest it earns for the state.
The Treasury Department sets aside 20 percent of the unclaimed property that businesses send to the department each year in expectations of returning it.
The bureau paid out $53 million of the $356 million it collected in 2005, $33 million of $386 million in 2004 and $15 million of $311.4 million in 2003.
Finding the rightful owner isn’t always easy. The bureau relies on people seeing names in the newspaper and telling their relatives, neighbors and friends.
Check with the Treasury Department at www.patreasury.org or call 1-800-222-2046 to see if there might be unclaimed treasure under your name, or that of a relative.
Do you think there may be money in another state? Well there is also a quick and easy way to check that out. CashUnclaimed.com has the largest database of unclaimed property for state and federal accounts. While on this site you will also find out how to claim the money owed to you.
