Ohioans can reclaimed forgotten money via the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Unclaimed Funds website.
The average claim was $4,000 dollars last year, according to a press release from The Ohio Department of Commerce Division. The division is holding onto $3 billion in unclaimed funds and within the last year, more than $134 million in missing money has been returned.
“You can look up an unclaimed fund for anyone and we encourage you to do that,” Susie Wagner, outreach administrator for the Division of Unclaimed Funds, said. “We have found that much of the unclaimed funds belong to people over 50 years of age and deceased individuals. So, we want people to not only search their names, search their parents, grandparents and any family members who are living or deceased.”
Unclaimed funds are lost or forgotten money that businesses and banks report to the division after accounts become inactive, typically after three to five years, with the money coming from inactive checking and savings accounts, refund/credit balances, uncashed cashier’s checks, stocks and bonds, forgotten utility deposits or last paychecks, the release said.
A hashtag challenge called #ClaimMyMoney encourages residents to “share a photo of themselves with the unclaimedfunds.ohio.gov website showing that they searched their name along with the hashtag,” according to the release.
People in Ohio can call at 614-466-4433 or check unclaimed funds online.
