PA Treasury Returns $100K In Unclaimed Property To Bucks County

DOYLESTOWN, PA — More than $97,000 in unclaimed property has been returned to Bucks County, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced Friday.

More than 426 individual property items, including uncashed checks, credit balances and unused gift cards, that were identified as belonging to various entities within Bucks County as part of a months-long review involving the state and county offices.

The properties ranged in value from 24 cents to $6,000, with some dating back to 1975.

“As I began to uncover available claims that rightfully belonged here at home, the challenge was in identifying all the potential spellings and titles that have been sitting in Harrisburg for decades," Bucks County Treasurer Kristian Ballerini said. "Having Treasurer Garrity’s office work so quickly with mine to ensure a payment is a great example of local county and state governments working together for the people.”

Bucks County Commissioners will ultimately decide how the returned monies get used. Garrity said she hopes to return more money to county residents, including $110 million in Bucks County that remains unclaimed on the treasury's website.

About $3.8 billion in unclaimed property sits in the state treasury. Unclaimed property law requires dormant properties to be turned over to the treasury after three years of inactivity for most types of property, and two years for payroll checks. It can include monies from dormant bank accounts, abandoned stocks, contents of safe deposit boxes, and uncashed checks.

Pennsylvania residents can go to patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property to see if any unclaimed property belongs to them.

People and businesses can keep property from becoming part of the state's unclaimed property program by keeping financial institutions informed of any address changes, keeping updated records of financial information, letting a family member or trusted advisor know where your financial records are held, and depositing cash or checks as you receive them.

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