Does NC Have Your Money? $659 Million In Funds Unclaimed

CHARLOTTE, NC -- The State of North Carolina is holding on to $659 million in unclaimed money, and some of it could be yours. Treasurer Dale Folwell says the money is held until it is claimed by the rightful owner or that person's heirs — and many people who have unclaimed cash don't even know about it.

What is unclaimed property? "Unclaimed property consists of bank accounts, wages, utility deposits, insurance policy proceeds, stocks, bonds, and contents of safe deposit boxes that typically have been abandoned for one to five years," according to the state treasury website.

That includes forgotten checking and savings accounts, uncashed payroll checks, uncashed stock dividends and stock certificates, insurance payments, utility deposits, customer deposits, accounts payable, credit balances, refund checks, money orders, traveler's checks, mineral proceeds, court deposits, uncashed death benefit checks and life insurance proceeds.
Unclaimed property does NOT include real estate or vehicles.

The state has returned more than $15.5 million in 17,088 claims so far in the past quarter, according to the treasurer’s office.

How do you find out if you're missing out on money that's rightfully yours? You can search on the state treasurer's website. To narrow the search, include a city. Once you find your property, you can click to claim it and again to file your claim. You can also check for unclaimed property in other states.

Patch Editor Shannon Antinori contributed.

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