Jun 12, 2023 4 min read

You know the excitement you get when you find a few dollars in an old coat pocket? Well, a quick search for unclaimed property could bring the same feeling – except much better – for thousands of people living in Greene County.

Right now, the Pennsylvania Treasury has $4.7 million waiting for Greene County residents – and a total of more than $4 billion for Pennsylvanians statewide. This money is known as unclaimed property, and the state is safeguarding it until the rightful owners are found.

One-in-10 Pennsylvanians has money waiting to be claimed, and the average claim is about $1,600. That’s enough to make a big difference for most families, especially in today’s financial climate with skyrocketing inflation.

It’s easy to see if you have any money waiting, and we’re all here to help. You can start by searching online at patreasury.gov/unclaimedproperty, or you can call our legislative offices for help searching or starting the claims process.

Unclaimed property is mostly money, and it typically gets sent to the state Treasury after three years of dormancy. Examples include old bank accounts, forgotten insurance policies, abandoned stocks, and uncashed checks.

It can also include tangible items, like things held in safe deposit boxes. Tangible property is kept in Treasury’s vault in Harrisburg – the largest operating vault in the country – for at least three years while Treasury looks for the rightful owner. If no owner is found, these items can be auctioned to make room for incoming inventory. All auction proceeds are available in perpetuity for a rightful owner to claim at any time.

Treasury’s vault is also home to 480 military decorations, including medals, pins and badges from every branch of service, and nearly every major conflict. These items – the most valuable in the vault – are never auctioned, and Treasury works diligently to find the rightful owners. Treasurer Stacy Garrity has returned 344 military decorations – including three Bronze Stars and five Purple Hearts – to the rightful owners, recognizing the veterans who earned them and their families for their great sacrifices for our country.

We hope you’ll start your search for unclaimed property today, to make sure any money that is owed to you gets back in your hands as quickly as possible. You can also search for other members of your family, your friends and neighbors, and even any business or organization you’re a part of, because unclaimed property isn’t just owed to individuals.

If you don’t find anything, come back and search again, because Treasury receives hundreds of millions of dollars in unclaimed property every year. In 2022, Treasury returned more than $211 million.

You can keep your property from becoming unclaimed by taking a few simple steps:

• Let your financial institutions know if your address changes.
• Communicate with your financial institutions at least once every three years.
• Keep your financial records up-to-date.
• Make sure a family member or trusted person knows where you keep your records.
• Deposit or cash any checks as soon as you receive them.

We’re eager to help you get back what’s yours, so don’t wait to search online or give us a call to get started. We can’t wait to get this money back where it belongs – into the hands of the hardworking Pennsylvanians who earned it in the first place.

Stacy Garrity is the treasurer of Pennsylvania. Camera Bartolotta is a state senator for the 46th Senatorial District. Bud Cook is a state representative for the 50th Legislative District.