HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania Treasury has launched a new unclaimed-property system designed to accelerate the return of more than $5 billion still awaiting owners, adding automatic matching, expanded payments, and fraud screening for claims filed through searchandclaimpa.gov.
The system can automatically identify additional qualifying property associated with someone who begins a claim, adding those assets to the property selected by the claimant.
Treasury reported that the matching feature has already connected an additional $5 million in property with people who filed claims.
The upgrade also expands the state’s Money Match process, allowing qualifying property valued at $500 or less to be returned automatically. Treasury can run the process periodically and as additional unclaimed property is reported.
Search results now display the exact value of property worth less than $500, while higher-value property is identified as worth more than $500. Users can also email information about property they locate for relatives or friends.
Treasury stated that the new system includes additional fraud controls intended to flag potentially fraudulent claims for more extensive review.
More than one in 10 Pennsylvania residents is owed unclaimed property, with the average claim exceeding $1,000, according to Treasury. The department has returned more than $1.2 billion to individuals, businesses, nonprofits and other organizations since Treasurer Stacy Garrity took office.
“The launch of searchandclaimpa.gov is the next step in making Pennsylvania’s Unclaimed Property Program better, faster and easier to use,” Garrity stated.
Unclaimed property can include dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks and forgotten stocks. Treasury also holds physical property, including collectible coins, jewelry, and savings bonds, much of it originating from safe deposit boxes.
Pennsylvanians can search for property and begin the claims process at searchandclaimpa.gov.
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