February may be the Month of Love, but it is also a great time to check to see if you are among the 1 in 10 Mississippians who have unclaimed money available to them through the Office of the State Treasurer in Jackson.
Feb. 1 is designated as National Unclaimed Property Day, and State Treasurer David McRae and his staff are urging people to take a moment and search the treasury’s online database to collect any cash that may be owed to them.
That cash, said McRae, could be from an energy bill refund that went to the wrong address, a forgotten-about certificate of deposit or even an inheritance a person may not know about.
Other common forms of unclaimed cash are stocks, uncashed dividends or payroll checks, insurance payments and utility security deposits, according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.
Association officials said “…there are literally billions of dollars in unclaimed property held by state governments and treasures within the United States.” The group adds that, by law, “abandoned” money must be turned over to states after a designated period of time. That period is five years in Mississippi.
McRae – a Republican in his first term – and his staff returned $20 million in unclaimed money to Mississippians in 2020, more than any year in state history. The treasurer said returning unclaimed property is one of his top priorities. He added that, with 1 in 10 odds, residents have “better chances than the lottery” to find unclaimed cash.
The online database, which is available at treasury.ms.gov, is searchable by either name or address. The database shares if unclaimed cash or shares are over or under $100, and it allows users to select a “That’s Me!” option to pull up a claim form.
The claim form must be printed, completed and notarized. It should be then mailed to the Office of the State Treasurer, Unclaimed Property Division, at P.O. Box 138, Jackson, MS 39205.
For questions or more information, call (601) 359-3534 or email unclaimed@treasury.ms.gov.
