Ohio establishes 2 records in unclaimed funds paid

Ohioans collected $72
million in unclaimed funds in the year ended July 31.

COLUMBUS — Kimberly Zurz, director of the Ohio Department of Commerce, recently announced two new fiscal-year records in the number of unclaimed funds claims paid and the dollar amount of the claims paid in fiscal year 2007.

The Division of Unclaimed Funds paid a record 61,711 claims to current or former Ohioans during fiscal year 2007, a 41 percent increase over the previous fiscal year’s payment of 43,714 claims. The division also paid a record $72 million in claims paid to Ohioans, a nearly 12 percent increase over the previous fiscal-year payment of $64.4 million.

“The Division of Unclaimed Funds continues to post records for the citizens of Ohio,” Zurz said. “The division’s staff is dedicated to reuniting Ohioans with funds that they have inadvertently lost track of over the years.”

The division posted a total of $154.3 million in reported funds for fiscal year 2007. This was a decrease from last year’s record when $210.2 million was reported.

Unclaimed funds consist of monies or the right to monies that have been dormant or forgotten. These funds are reported to the state of Ohio for safekeeping until the rightful owners can be found. Some common examples include: dormant checking and savings accounts, forgotten rent and utility deposits, uncashed checks, undelivered stock certificates and uncashed insurance policies.

Web site figures

Superintendent of Unclaimed Funds Yaw Obeng said that 75.2 percent of the claims paid were initiated through the Online Treasure Hunt. In the just-completed fiscal year, the division paid 46,377 claims that were initiated through the Web site worth a total of nearly $40.9 million.

The division is holding a statewide total of approximately 3.5 million open unclaimed-funds accounts worth more than $1 billion. Obeng encourages Ohioans to visit the division’s Web site at www.com.state.oh.us/unfd/treasurehunt.asp to see if they have funds waiting to be claimed.

“We encourage Ohioans to periodically check for unclaimed funds. The Online Treasure Hunt is an easy and convenient way for Ohioans to learn if they have unclaimed funds waiting to be claimed,” Obeng said.

Individuals without Internet access can write to the division with the names to be checked and the Ohio counties in which the individual(s) have lived. The division’s address is: Ohio Dept. of Commerce, Division of Unclaimed Funds, 77 S. High St., 20th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215.