State Treasurer Riley Moore announced today there is still a high percentage of West Virginia Cash Now checks that have not been cashed, according to his Office’s Unclaimed Property Division.

“The rate of cashing these West Virginia Cash Now checks have slowed in recent weeks, and my Office wants to ensure rightful owners receive their unclaimed property funds in a timely manner,” Treasurer Moore said. “I want to encourage recipients to deposit their checks before the checks stale date in mid-March 2025.”

As of Wednesday, Nov. 20, about 60 percent of the nearly $2.9 million in West Virginia Cash Now checks have been deposited since the checks were mailed to the 2,357 recipients back in September.

According to the Office’s Unclaimed Property Division, 1,413 checks totaling more than $1.6 million have been cashed so far. There are 936 checks totaling more than $1.1 million that remain outstanding. 

The West Virginia Cash Now program launched in 2022 as a new, automated system for sending unclaimed property it its rightful owners – without the need for those individuals to file paperwork with the State Treasurer’s Office. 

The program, which was established from House Bill 4511 as an unclaimed property modernization bill proposed by Treasurer Moore, allows the Office’s Unclaimed Property Division to quickly issue checks to residents who have addresses and contact information that are readily verifiable in legal databases.

The Treasurer’s Office mailed letters to this year’s program recipients in July to notify them that they should be receiving a check through the program. The checks were received in the fall.

Now in its third year, the West Virginia Cash Now program has helped the Office return roughly $7 million worth of unclaimed property to West Virginia citizens.

“The West Virginia Cash Now program allows our citizens to be reunited with their missing money automatically – no paperwork required,” Treasurer Moore said. “This is their money and it’s their right to cash that check.”

The Cash Now program applies to one of the most common types of claims including individual property owners with claim amounts ranging from $500 to less than $5,000. The program does not apply to all claims. Businesses, government entities, estate claims and securities are not covered by the program because additional documentation is required to verify the owner. Individuals with claims of $5,000 or more will also still have to file paperwork with the Treasurer’s Office to receive their claim.

More information about the West Virginia Cash Now program is available at the Unclaimed Property Division’s website: www.WVUnclaimedProperty.gov. Information on the Cash Now program is available by clicking on the “WV Cash Now” tab at the top of the page. 

Recipients can call (800) 642-8687 or email WVCashNow@wvsto.gov if they have questions.

The State Treasurer’s Office currently has about $473 million worth of listings in its database.

To learn more about the unclaimed property program and to search its database, visit www.WVUnclaimedProperty.gov. 

What is Unclaimed Property? 

Unclaimed property can include financial accounts or items of value in which the owner has not initiated any activity for one year or longer. Common examples include unpaid life insurance benefits, forgotten bank accounts and unused rebate cards. (While the title includes the word “property,” it does not however include real estate.)

West Virginia’s unclaimed property laws protect the public by ensuring money and property owed to them is returned to them, rather than remaining permanently with financial institutions, business associations, governments and other entities. The Treasurer seeks to reunite the unclaimed property, including uncashed paychecks, stocks, or safe deposit box contents, with its owner.

Nationwide, nearly 33 million people in the United States – one in every 10 – are estimated to have unclaimed property available for them to claim.

How Can I Find Unclaimed Property in My Name?

West Virginians searching for lost financial assets can go to www.WVUnclaimedProperty.gov. In addition to finding property, the website will also help you track a claim.

A demonstration of how to use the Unclaimed Property search site is available on the Treasury’s YouTube page, at: https://youtu.be/K09yQ7YNKlE.

To search for lost financial assets outside West Virginia, visit www.MissingMoney.com.