Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read said last Tuesday that they are excited to return millions of dollars to their rightful owners from the unclaimed funds. This program is an initiative part of “Checks without Claims.”
The Treasury office plan to return the funds to approximately worth $10 million. This effort by Oregon’s Unclaimed Property Program will be the largest mass disbursement of funds.
Treasurer Read said that they are committed to offering accessible and easy ways for clients to claim money owed to them. Aside from collecting and safeguarding the Unclaimed Property of Oregonians, they are also committed to raising awareness across Oregon.
Notifications will be sent via a letter from Treasurer Read to those individuals identified as the owner of unclaimed funds. Letters will be sent a month before payment if they are part of the “Check without Claims” initiative.
The treasurer will mail the payments via check accompanied by an additional confirmation letter.
In the first half of 20203, Treasury will return unclaimed funds in three phases.
The first phase of disbursement payments to verified owners reported to the state in 2018 will be released in February.
The second phase of disbursement payments to verified owners reported to the state in 2019 will be released in April.
The third phase of disbursement payments to verified owners reported to the state in 2020 will be released in June.
Typically, to receive the funds they are owed, individuals need to file a claim and complete the verification process. To proactively verify the owners of unclaimed assets and facilitate payments directly to them, the Treasury conducts “Checks without Claims.” The amount of the check distributed will vary in amount between $50 and $10,000.
Individuals who want to recover funds that were not distributed may visit unclaimed.oregon.gov and search if they can file a claim. Those who received letters about forthcoming checks are advised to wait for the check to arrive rather than filing a claim as it may delay the receipt of payment.
In July 2021, the Oregon Department of State Lands passed the state’s Unclaimed Property Program to Treasury. Since the transition, the program has completed over 47,000 claims, returning over $65.4 million to current and former Oregonians.
