‘One of the largest one-day returns of unclaimed property ever,’ says State Treasurer.
The Wisconsin Office of the State Treasurer last week returned more than $460,000 in unclaimed property to its rightful owners, which includes corporations and residents who had previously filed claims.
The office says it received a large number of claims last year, most of which range from $5 to $10. Office spokesperson Ron Giordan confirms that the flood of requests was a result of the fast-track system implemented to help claims specialists process claims of $750 or less much faster.
‘In 2010 alone, more than 250,000 accounts valued at less than $50 were reported as individual accounts and were available to be advertised on our website by name and claimed by the owner,’ says Mary Celentani, the Wisconsin office’s unclaimed property administrator.
At the other end of the spectrum, the highest sum was returned to Aurora Health Care, the state’s non-profit healthcare network, for overpayment into the Wisconsin Healthcare Liability Plan. Roughly $163,330 was returned last week.
Additionally, after careful review by treasury examiners, $139,000 was returned to a trust fund that had previously filed a claim for more than $10,000.
In early April, Treasurer Kurt Schuller announced that the office has close to $400 million in unclaimed property.
