Pennsylvania’s recent upgrade to the unclaimed property system in Harrisburg, which hadn’t been done for 15 years, has returned more than $20 million worth of items to their rightful owners.
Officials said that, despite returning millions of dollars worth of property within only two months, the vault still contains $4 billion worth of unclaimed property, WGAL8 reported.
“This vault is way cooler than the vault in the movie Ocean’s Eleven. The only thing that that movie has that we don’t have is George Clooney,” Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity told WGAL8. “I guarantee you that some of your relatives, some of your friends and your acquaintances absolutely have unclaimed property.”
According to Garrity, one in 10 Pennsylvanians has some unclaimed property and the average claim is around $2,000 in either uncashed checks, stock certificates or dividend checks.
A majority of the unclaimed property found in the vault comes from financial institutions that are required to turn over unclaimed items after three years. Once items pile up, the state auctions them off, but the money still goes to the rightful owner, WGAL8 reported. The only items that do not go to auction are military awards and achievements.
Pennsylvania’s six-room vault was originally built in 1939 with a 60-ton front door and is the largest vault in the country, according to WGAL8. Within each of the six rooms, referred to as cages, there are 145 drawers that house items such as jewelry, cash and coins.
Visit PAtreasury.gov/unclaimed-property and click “search now” to enter your name and city if you believe you may have unclaimed property.
