$4.4M in unclaimed property checks to hit Louisiana mailboxes

Photo courtesy Deposit Photos

Nearly 26,000 unclaimed property checks that total $4.4 million are being mailed out on Wednesday after a data match to update addresses with the Louisiana Department of Revenue.

According to a news release, 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,” State Treasurer John M. Schroder said in a news release. “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 allows the Louisiana Department of Revenue to share its database of current addresses with the Treasury for the purpose of returning unclaimed property. Because of this, the Treasury can clear out a backlog of unclaimed property and mail checks to citizens without the need to file a claim.

There is currently more than $1 billion in unclaimed property. Businesses turn over millions of dollars annually in unclaimed cash, stocks, bonds, securities and insurance proceeds to the State Treasurer’s Office. Dubbed 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 reasons an item becomes unclaimed property is that a company has an incorrect or old address.

One in six individuals in Louisiana has unclaimed property. Claims average $900.

Search at LaCashClaim.org or 1-888-925-4127.

Below is a list of parishes, amounts returned and the total number of checks that will be mailed this week:

b