Salem, OR–National Unclaimed Property Day returns February 1 and to celebrate Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner is encouraging individuals across Oregon to search for their lost assets. The nationwide effort aims to bring awareness to the nearly 33 million people in the United States – 1 in every 7 – that have unclaimed property. In addition to calling for individuals to search for their unclaimed property, Treasurer Steiner announced the Treasury is launching its 2025 ‘Checks Without Claim’ initiative in February, the agency’s annual effort to proactively return millions of dollars in unclaimed property to current and former Oregonians.
Common examples of unclaimed property include uncashed checks, forgotten bank accounts, tax refunds, payroll checks, and more. Treasury’s free online database at Unclaimed.Oregon.gov provides Oregonians a quick and easy method for searching for and claiming their funds.
“National Unclaimed Property Day is a great reminder to check if you have any unclaimed money waiting for you,” says Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner. “We have more than one billion dollars in forgotten funds in Oregon. I encourage everyone, from individuals to businesses and government entities, to take a few minutes and search our database.” In Oregon, unclaimed property belongs to the owners forever and can be claimed free of charge from our website, Unclaimed.Oregon.gov.
Unclaimed property programs have existed since the 1950s, yet many individuals are still unaware of them. In 2021, to increase awareness of unclaimed property, the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) launched the first National Unclaimed Property Day on February 1. Oregon will join other programs across the country this week in promoting the search for unclaimed property to individuals in their state.
Following a record reporting year of over $210 million, Oregon State Treasury will launch the 2025 Checks Without Claims initiative on National Unclaimed Property Day. Treasury staff are using advanced analytics and data-matching tools to return funds to their rightful owners without their needing to file a claim. Eligible Oregonians will receive a letter in early February letting them know a check will soon be in the mail. Last year, nearly $18 million was returned to Oregonians through this initiative. This year, we plan to reach a record number of individuals. Almost 23,000 checks will go out, totaling about $13 million. Checks distributed will vary in amount between $50 and $10,000.
“Treasury’s Checks Without Claims effort is a great example of our team being proactive in serving the public, while being efficient and innovative,” says Treasurer Steiner.
For more information about the Oregon State Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Program and how to reclaim funds, please visit Unclaimed.Oregon.gov.
