The WTKR News 3 investigation continues to investigate unclaimed assets in the state of Virginia.
Right now, about $2 billion, and a portion of that amount could be yours.
We have been investigating this factor for months after other people contacted us about their complaints.
Bill Womble, of Suffolk, said he was very frustrated after waiting months to get answers about his backward mother’s unclaimed property.
He asked us for help and after we asked him questions, he said he had won a check for $1,900.
Virginia’s unclaimed asset executives have already told us that there is $2 billion in unclaimed assets, which is normally money.
Unclaimed assets can be deposits from previous applications, stocks, bond dividends, products, and, in very rare cases, physical assets.
Bradley Earl, Virginia’s director of unclaimed properties, invited us to Richmond for a behind-the-scenes look at the operation in April.
He said national attention and social media have increased awareness of unclaimed assets and led others to register claims, leading to delays.
He said they implemented a new unclaimed asset control program in August 2022 that “really reinvigorated and updated our program to make it less difficult to collect incoming goods, but also to allow Virginians across the country to claim their assets online through electronic means and also get a check faster.
Look at the cover: Does the Treasury Department owe you money?
In 2024, the organization set a record by disbursing more than $83 million, Earl said. The number of programs exceeded 70,000 for the second year in a row. Early said a new fast-track formula has been implemented to speed up the claims process.
But each one is inspired by their own system.
Ron Lizzi, a Connecticut resident described as a national unclaimed asset watchdog, says more people get their money back in Virginia. He worked to replace legislation in his home state of Connecticut.
“The program’s project is to return the cash and now it seems to me that Virginia is doing a poor job in returning the unclaimed cash,” Lizzi said.
He said he began researching this issue several years ago and wondered why his state had such a large amount of money.
“Since when do other people avoid running out of money? It doesn’t make sense,” Lizzi said.
Below are the tables they provided to us regarding the amount of cash collected and the amount returned:
Previously, the ministry told WTKR that for “years where we go back, for example, $79 million, that means we’ve backed cash just for that year of debts, it may only relate to asset claims dating back years.
To get your cash back in the state of Virginia, you’ll need to file a claim, but not in other states like Louisiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Oregon.
If the amount is less than a certain amount, the state will send you a check to record a claim.
Oregon leaders told News 3 that this has made their formula much more effective and has particularly increased the number of people getting their money back.
“We don’t want to process manual claims that can be approved automatically so our staff can focus on complex claims that require manual review,” said Claudia Ciobanu, real estate manager for Oregon Trust.
We asked why Virginia doesn’t return cash to individuals, organizations, or cities without them having to file a claim.
“I’ve had conversations with states that do, so it’s not like it’s not on our radar. We’re just not here yet to take the mandatory steps to start messaging people,” Earl said.
He added that security issues also had to be considered, such as if other people thought it was a scam or that the money fell into their hands.
“We just don’t need to send checks. The user is possibly at the address, someone other than the actual owner can also simply retrieve the check and cash it. There are a lot of threat points that fear me,” Earl said.
Watch Previous Coverage: News 3 Helps Virginia Beach Man Get $3,000 in Unclaimed Property; Here’s how to recover what you owe
On the website, Virginia lately indicates that she has between $0 and $50, between $50 and $100, or between $100 and more.
This leads others like Womble to wonder exactly how much cash the Treasury Department has.
“I’m very curious to know. I mean, $100 would be nice, but it can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000. I have no idea what it is.
To reunite homeowners with the money, states like Texas list a faster deal for the user and the exact amount owed. We asked why Virginia didn’t indicate the exact amount owed.
“The objective is to reach the owners themselves. The same explanation is why we don’t have mailing addresses on the website. Access to data is available to everyone. It’s very easy to impersonate someone to get the funds,” Earl said.
He also said that having a more express amount may simply be a clever concept that they can just take a look at.
Nationally, 1 in 7 people own unclaimed property, however, in Virginia, it’s 1 in 4, according to a mailed brochure.
We asked why more people in Virginia had unclaimed assets. Earl did not give a precise explanation as to why, but responded via email saying, “Our program has millions in unclaimed assets and we hope that each and every Virginian will visit our online page to check and more this. The more it happens, the more we can bring citizens in combination with their money. This year, we set a record by disbursing more than $83. 3 million and surpassing more than 70,000 claims for the second year in a row.
“Their website says on the front page how much cash they’ve been returned, but they don’t say how much they haven’t returned,” Lizzi said.
Previously, WTKR learned that the state held approximately $2 billion in unclaimed assets. We asked for a precise amount, but we were directed to this law, “in accordance with VA code §55. 1-2531, which says the Treasury will have to deposit unclaimed assets. “The declared assets enter the Literary Fund, but the declared assets are kept in perpetuity until they are reunited with their rightful owner. “
When asked how many unclaimed assets they owned, Earl wrote that they “should not provide more data than has already been provided. “
During our interview, he talked about the new unclaimed asset control program that included an expedited system.
They also promote their unclaimed assets in newspapers, contact other people who are owed large sums of money, attend netpainting events, collaborate with the media, and report that they created their online page before and gave it a new name.
“They have updated their call from Arrayorg to Arraygov. They replaced their domain call to give the public more confidence in the legitimacy of this program,” Earl said.
They also opened a call center on June 10 so the public can ask questions of a genuine person.
Each year, millions of dollars in unclaimed real estate go into the state’s literary fund, which is earmarked for teachers’ pensions, generation, and construction.
Below is a table with the precise amounts of the last few years:
In 2023, $240 million in unclaimed assets were transferred.
But some critics have trouble with that.
“Imagine that I locate your wallet and it is your identification, but I do not return it to you. Instead, I withdraw the cash and donate it to a charity. It is ok? No, it’s not. I just gave you your cash. I don’t have the right to do that,” Lizzi said.
But under state law, the state has the right to put cash into this public fund.
Earl said there is a misconception that the government is looking to keep the cash.
“That’s a misconception that I’d like to debunk,” Earl said.
He affirmed that the State takes care of the unclaimed money, but is simply its custodian.
“If I was given unclaimed property, I would still have that balance of about $100. However, the actual money will be given to the Literary Fund for general public use for the public good; However, that $100 balance is still there to be claimed. “, said Conde.
He said the main goal was to bring other people together with their budget and that they were constantly making improvements.
We asked Earl if Virginia was doing a smart job by returning the cash to other people to whom it belongs. He said, “I think we’re doing a wonderful job. I’m obviously very biased, but I think we’re doing a wonderful job. “and we are proceeding to improve. In my short time here, we’ve made a lot of adjustments and I’m excited about what we need to do here in the future.
Unclaimed Property in Virginia
Unclaimed National Property
Brianna Lanham contributed to this story.
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