Unclaimed Property Division received $66.7 million in lost property at the end of 2021
SALT LAKE CITY – August 3, 2022 – Utah State Treasurer Marlo M. Oaks today announced that the Utah Unclaimed Property Division reunited $30.6 million in unclaimed property with rightful owners and processed a record-breaking 36,821 claims in fiscal year 2022 (July 2021 – June 2022).
When a business owes money to an individual it cannot find, it remits those funds to the state’s Unclaimed Property Division after three years of non-contact with the owner. Last year, the division received 503,648 unclaimed properties totaling $66.7 million. Unclaimed property comes from sources like dormant bank accounts, overpaid medical bills, uncashed checks, safe deposit box contents and unpaid insurance benefits.
“Our team uses a variety of methods to return unclaimed money to rightful owners, including implementing aggressive outreach campaigns, leveraging technology and forging partnerships with charities, local government leaders and the news media,” Treasurer Oaks said. “Last year, we shifted our efforts to reunite unclaimed money with rightful owners in Utah’s most economically depressed communities where the money could make the biggest difference. As a result, we reunited lost money with more Utahns than ever before, including those who needed it the most during these challenging economic times.”
In partnership with the Utah Automated Geographic Reference Center, the Unclaimed Property Division created a tool to search unclaimed property data by census tract, county, senate district and house district. One use of the tool—matching unclaimed property data with corresponding census tract median income data—enables the division to focus more strategically on areas of the state with the greatest need. As part of this effort, the division has sent out 796,388 direct mail postcards to these communities during the past year.
Additionally, the division joined forces with the leaders of some of these communities to reunite unclaimed money with residents through a data matching project. As a result of the project, the state mailed letters to individuals and businesses in those communities who were identified as possible owners. Cities also published articles about unclaimed property in newsletters and magazines and helped spread the word on social media.
“Despite our innovations and accomplishments, we still take in more property each year than we can return,” Unclaimed Property Administrator Dennis Johnston said. “Every Utahn should go online at least once a year to find and claim their property – and check for family, friends, deceased relatives and organizations they support as well.”
“Even if you have searched for unclaimed property in the past, check again,” Treasurer Oaks said. “We may have received additional property since you last visited our website.”
For more information and to search property, visit mycash.utah.gov.
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