State Treasurer Larry Pack today announced checks totaling nearly $3 million have been sent to more than 2,300 recipients as part of the fourth year of the “West Virginia Cash Now” unclaimed property program, which automatically reunites certain individuals with their lost or unclaimed funds.
“The West Virginia Cash Now program aims to get more unclaimed property money into the pockets of our citizens. I’m proud my Office has returned more than $13 million to rightful owners over the past four years,” Treasurer Pack said. “With the number of potential scams that exist in today’s age, we need to make sure citizens know this is a legitimate program. So, if you receive a letter from our office this week, be sure to open it and deposit the money. We are simply trying to get your money back to you.”
A total of 2,339 individuals will receive checks as part of this year’s distribution, representing a total of $2,939,794.25 returned to rightful owners.
West Virginia Cash Now launched in 2022 as a new, automated system for sending unclaimed property to its rightful owners – without the need for those individuals to file paperwork with the State Treasurer’s Office. The program allows the Unclaimed Property Division to quickly issue checks to residents who have addresses and contact information that are readily verifiable in legal databases.
Since the program began, there have been 16,213 checks issued for $13,805,672.53.
The State Treasurer’s Office currently has about $473 million worth of listings in its database.
The West Virginia Cash Now program applies to one of the most common types of claims: Individual property owners with claim amounts ranging from $500 to less than $5,000 will be receiving checks this year through the program. 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 Office to receive their claim.
To learn more about the unclaimed property program and to search its database, visit www.WVUnclaimedProperty.gov.