Pa. returns $250 million in unclaimed property, still has $3.2 billion left

The state of Pennsylvania returned more than a quarter billion dollars’ worth of unclaimed property to citizens last year.

The Treasury Department said Wednesday the $254,122,398.05 total was a 34 percent increase from 2016.

“In July, we announced that for the fiscal year we had surpassed historic return amounts, and we continued those efforts by returning more than $26 million in just a few months to close out the calendar year,” said Treasurer Joe Torsella.

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Businesses are required to report unclaimed property – abandoned bank accounts, forgotten stocks, safety deposit boxes, etc. – to the state by law. The Treasury Department serves as custodian for the property until it can track down the legal owner.

Go to the department's website to search for unclaimed property that may belong to you. The department says it has more than $3.2 billion in unclaimed property, and 10 percent of state residents have claim to some portion of that.

Cox Media Group