Unclaimed Property: Pennsylvania Treasury Trying To Return $4 Billion In Unclaimed Property To Pennsylvanians

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The Pennsylvania Treasury is trying to return $4 billion in unclaimed property to Pennsylvanians. Unclaimed property can be money or tangible items that belong to current and former residents.

1 in 10 Pennsylvania residents has unclaimed property waiting for them.

Treasurer Stacy Garrity's office has located nearly $342 million in Allegheny County alone.

"Unclaimed property is property that's yours, be it in tangible items or money, funds that have ended up at treasury due to dormancy or not being touched," said Samantha Galvez, press secretary for Pennsylvania Treasury. "It's essentially abandoned property, maybe an old bank account or old retirement account."

It's always nice finding some extra cash and now might be your chance. We showed people on the North Shore how easy it is to check.

You just need to type some information on the Treasury's website.

"You never know! Yep, here I am. Unclaimed property," said Cheree Daugherty after checking if she had unclaimed property. She said, "under $100! So, I have under $100 that I have waiting for me that I need to claim now."

"Sorry, no records were found!" Sue Lassi said when she saw her results.

"I have a settlement fund for under $100," said Pete Lassi.

"Under 100, I think I found myself," Josh Thompson said.

Here's what's available to claim in the Pittsburgh region:

• Allegheny County has $341,969,756.82 and 1,819,031 properties available to claim.
• Westmoreland County has $53,978,968.30 and 376,490 properties available to claim.
• Beaver County has $23,661,886.13 and 180,269 properties available to claim.
• Butler County has $21,051,986.71 and 176,766 properties available to claim.
• Washington County has $31,829,131.22 and 238,040 properties available to claim.

"That is awesome, I do have money out there. That's amazing for me because I could use it right about now," Daugherty said.

"I don't know, it's under $100, I'm going to be honest, I don't really care that much," said Thompson.

"It's always nice to get some extra cash, it's never a bad thing," said Pete Lassi.

Unclaimed property isn't always cash, it could also be tangible items like jewelry, military decorations, or something unexpected.

"One time we got a stuffed piranha that was auctioned off for $30. There are some funny items that do come into our vault," said Galvez.

There's no better time than now to see if you have any unclaimed property.

"So, one thing Treasurer Garrity always tells people is that right now is the time to really check for unclaimed property especially because there are so many families who are struggling through no fault of their own because of this pandemic," said Galvez.

Galvez also provided some tips if your results come up blank on your first try. For example, type without your middle name or type your nickname.

"A little bit advice though, if you just type your first and last name nothing might show up but if you do all these different combinations a lot of times it takes a few tries to actually come up with something so don't get discouraged if you've tried and you haven't found anything," she said.

There are ways to make sure your property doesn't end up at Treasury.

"We recommend that you communicate with your financial institution or bank at least once every three years. Notify them of any address changes, cash any checks that you have lying around as soon as possible, and just make sure you let someone you trust know where all your financial records are," Galvez said.

If you see that you have unclaimed cash, just follow the steps on the treasury website.

It takes 3 months to receive and sometimes longer if you're obtaining property that belongs to a relative that died.