Politics

NC treasurer returned $108 million to owners in 2022-23

By Lightning Reports, Published: September 5, 2023

The unclaimed property division of the state treasurer's office returned more than $108 million to the rightful owners during the 2023 fiscal year, State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell announced.

That eclipsed all previous one-year totals as Folwell continues to prioritize handing back missing money that, by law, was placed in the custody of treasury’s escheats fund, accessible here. 

“This is the second consecutive year we have set records for the amount of money we are putting back into the pockets of the rightful owners, and for the number of people receiving their missing money," Folwell said. "But we are never satisfied to sit on our laurels. We’re already taking steps to set another record over the next year."

NCCash.com is currently safeguarding nearly $1.09 billion in escheated funds, representing 17.7 million properties. The money is awaiting return to the rightful owners after being lost, misdirected or overlooked. More than 19 million owners are associated with the cash.

For the 2023 fiscal year that ended June 30, the department paid 193,319 claims totaling $108,586,650, both historical records for a one-year period. The previous records were set in the 2022 fiscal year, when the unclaimed property division paid 178,857 claims amounting to more than $105 million. By contrast, Folwell has more than doubled the number of claims paid and nearly doubled the amount of money returned to the public since he took office in 2017. UPD paid just 91,912 claims totaling $56.2 million in the 2016 fiscal year.

Under state law, UPD receives and safeguards funds that are escheated, or turned over, to DST. The unclaimed property consists of bank accounts, wages, utility deposits, insurance policy proceeds, stocks, bonds and contents of safe deposit boxes that have been abandoned.

Unclaimed property can result from a person or entity forgetting they are due money, or from a move of location and forgetting to provide a new address. It also could result from a typing error in a house number or zip code in an address, a name change, or data loss from a business converting its computer system. As society becomes more mobile and steadily moves to electronic transactions, the risk of having unclaimed property has increased.