For the first time in Utah history, the state treasurer is listing the amount of unclaimed funds available to residents in each county. Utah State Treasurer David Damschen says as many as 780,000 individuals and organizations have property being held by the state. He and his colleagues would like to return the unclaimed property.
“There’s not a lot of things in government that are quit so fun as helping people find their own money,” says Damschen. “And especially at this time of year, here during the holidays.”
Fun, but also serious business as there is more than $375 million in funds and properties awaiting reclaim from rightful owners or their descendants, money that Damschen says could be used by residents to help boost the state’s economy. The challenge for the Utah Division of Unclaimed Property is trying to get residents to use the online service mycash.utah.gov. By entering your name or the names of ancestors the search could reunite you with your lost money. In 2015 alone, a record $22.5 million was paid out to owners or descendants of owners who filed claims.
“We have focused, in recent years, on technology and efficiency and on streamlining our marketing and social media efforts and we’ve seen an almost tripling of our claims payout results over the last five years because of these efforts.”
By creating a run-down of how much unclaimed money there is in each Utah county Damschen hopes to return uncashed payroll checks, dormant bank accounts, overpaid bills, and security deposit box contents.
“One in five Utahns have properties we are holding, and Cache County has $5.9 million in unclaimed properties. That brings it a little closer to home.” Says Damschen.
Damschen says there is a national resource for locating unclaimed property outside of Utah.