More than $15M unclaimed in Lafourche, Terrebonne

Information provided to The Times by the Louisiana Department of the Treasury shows that Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes have the 10th and 11th, respectively, most unclaimed property among the state’s 64 parishes.

Data shows that as of Dec. 1, 2014, there was $8,003,964.98 of unclaimed property in Terrebonne Parish and $7,447,345.19 in Lafourche.

Orleans Parish had the most unclaimed property in the state at about $93 million, followed by East Baton Rouge ($62M), Jefferson ($58.6M), Caddo ($28.2M), St. Tammany ($19M), Lafayette ($16.4M), Calcasieu ($13.7M), Ouachita ($11.8M), Rapides ($8.1), Terrebonne and Lafourche.

Residents of 23 parishes had less than $1M unclaimed.

In total, there was roughly $635 million in unclaimed property for the entire state.

Unclaimed property can be any type of lost money including old bank accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, royalties, utility deposits, apartment deposits, tax refunds and insurance proceeds, among other things.

“Louisiana has a law, as does every state, that if a business has your money and it can’t find you, the business can’t just keep the money,” explained Louisiana Treasurer John Kennedy. “After a certain period of time it’s got to turn that money over to me as state treasurer, and it becomes my job to try to get it back to people.”

Kennedy said his office has returned about $338 million to people over the years, however unclaimed property rolls in faster than his office can dole it out. Last fiscal year, Louisiana residents recovered about $35 million in unclaimed property – a fiscal year record – however about $98 million came in, according to Kennedy.

In order to check to see if you, a friend or a family member has unclaimed property available to them, log on to www.latreasury.com, click on the Unclaimed Property tab on the left side of the screen and search their names or streets they live on. People who have unclaimed property can then file a claim online or download a claim form and fax it to the Louisiana Department of the Treasury – all for free.

“I hear all the time from folks, ‘What’s the deal? What’s the trick? This must be a scam. Last time government did anything for me was never.’ And I understand why people are skeptical, but it’s a free service, and we’ve returned money to over 570,000 people. There are over four and a half million [people] in Louisiana, and we get [more unclaimed property] in every day,” said Kennedy.

For those who aren’t very Web savvy, people may call the Louisiana Department of the Treasury at 888-925-4127 or send a letter at P.O. Box 91010 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821-9010. Just provide the names of the people who would like to know if unclaimed property is available to them, and the Louisiana Department of the Treasury will check and provide an answer.

Also, Kennedy and his colleagues travel around the state and set up events – usually in shopping malls – where representatives can check for people on laptop computers and let them know if unclaimed property is available to them. The next of one of these events will take place in the first part of 2015 in the New Orleans area, however the specific date and location has not been finalized.

“We try to get around to every part of the state,” Kennedy said. “Obviously, we can’t go to every town, but we try to get around to the major cities so people from the surrounding areas can come in.”

Luminaries Kennedy’s office has returned money to includes Archie Manning, John Goodman and former Govs. Edwin Edwards, Mike Foster and Buddy Roemer.

“Folks always tell me, ‘I couldn’t have lost my money.’ Then they go to the website. I’ve found money for myself, for my wife. It really is amazing,” Kennedy said.