HARRISBURG (May 8) – As part of its ongoing mission to return unclaimed property to its rightful owners, the Pennsylvania Treasury Department will be advertising over 7,100 names, whose last known addresses were in Dauphin, Lackawanna, Lehigh and Luzerne counties, in the Harrisburg Patriot-News, the Scranton Times-Tribune, the Allentown Morning Call, the Hazleton Standard-Speaker and the Wilkes-Barre Citizens’ Voice and Times Leader on Wednesday, May 9 and Thursday, May 10, 2007.
On May 9, the ads will list alphabetically 1,940 names in the Morning Call and 1,730 names in the Standard-Speaker. On May 10, the ads will list alphabetically 2,180 names in the Patriot-News, 1,260 names in the Times-Tribune and again list the 1,730 names from Luzerne County in the Wilkes Barre Citizens’ Voice and Times Leader. The names are those of the owners from each county with unclaimed property valued at $100 or more.
Individuals who find their name on the advertised list may claim their property by calling the unclaimed property hotline toll-free at 1-800-222-2046, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Treasury staff will assist them in recovering their property free of charge. Individuals may also visit Treasury’s website at www.patreasury.org and enter their name into the free Unclaimed Property Database. Treasury encourages all Pennsylvanians, even those whose names are not in the advertisements, to search the Unclaimed Property Database to find out if Treasury is holding unclaimed property in their name.
Treasury annually advertises new names of property owners who have not responded to letters that were sent informing them about their unclaimed property. This year, Treasury is advertising a total of over 131,000 names in newspapers throughout the state.
Annual advertising and letter campaigns are just some of the methods Treasury employs to seek the owners of over $1 billion in unclaimed property. Treasury sends representatives to statewide public events year-round, including malls, consumer expos and fairs. Treasury also works with members of the General Assembly in helping determine if their constituents have unclaimed property.
Each year, Treasury receives millions of dollars in unclaimed property from abandoned bank accounts, forgotten stocks, checks that have not been cashed, certificates of deposit, life insurance policies, safe deposit boxes, and other sources. Treasury maintains custody of this unclaimed property, holding assets indefinitely, until it is returned to its rightful owners. In 2006 alone, Treasury reunited over 77,000 owners with their unclaimed property, totaling more than $124 million.
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