$4.4 million in Unclaimed Property checks hitting mailboxes across the state

Louisiana State Treasurer John M. Schroder announced that 25,910 unclaimed property checks totaling $4.4 million are being mailed out today following a data match to update addresses with the Louisiana Department of Revenue. Checks will be mailed to every parish in the state.

“These are real checks from the Louisiana Department of Treasury, so we want you to cash them,” said Schroder. “Unfortunately, about 20 percent of the checks we mail out each year as part of this match go uncashed, either because people have changed addresses, or because they don’t believe the check is real. We want the money to go in people’s bank accounts, not get returned to Treasury. They’re real checks, and it’s your money.”

Act 339 of the 2018 Regular Session permits the Louisiana Department of Revenue to share its database of current addresses with the Treasury for the purpose of returning unclaimed property. As a result, Treasury can clear out a backlog of unclaimed property still on the books and is able to mail checks to citizens without the need to file a claim.

There is currently more than $1 billion in unclaimed property to return. Each year businesses turn over millions of dollars in unclaimed cash, stocks, bonds, securities, and insurance proceeds to the State Treasurer’s Office. Known as “Unclaimed Property,” these funds include payroll checks, old bank accounts, royalties, utility deposits, interest payments, stock certificates, and life insurance proceeds.

One of the main reasons an item becomes unclaimed property is that a company has an incorrect or old address and it unable to return funds due.

One in six individuals in Louisiana has Unclaimed Property, with claims averaging $900. To find out if you have Unclaimed Property, search at LaCashClaim.org or call the Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Division toll-free at 1-888-925-4127 (Monday through Friday, 10:00 am to 4:30 pm).

See below for Terrebonne and Lafourche’s dollar amounts returned, and a total number of checks that will be mailed this week: