Arizona returns more than $60 million in unclaimed property in last year

PHOENIX – It’s not necessarily a bad thing when the Arizona Department of Revenue tracks you down — especially if it’s trying to return unclaimed property.

The state said it returned a record $64.3 million of unclaimed property to its rightful owners in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

That beat the previous year’s total of $57 million and included a single distribution of $1.2 million.

“Our department takes the mission to collect, safeguard and distribute unclaimed property very seriously,” spokesman Ed Greenberg told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Tuesday.

Greenberg said the unclaimed property comes from sources such as old bank accounts, uncashed payroll checks, tax refunds, credit balances and abandoned safe deposit boxes.

“After a period of time, the funds or the property is then turned over to the Department of Revenue for safe keeping … until we can hopefully track down the rightful owners of that property,” he said.

Accounts are considered abandoned and handed over to the state after three years, and the Department of Revenue holds the property up to 35 years.

Greenberg said unclaimed funds are often the result of an institution having incorrect or outdated contact information. In some cases, the owner died and the survivors weren’t aware of the asset.

“Each year we send out tens of thousands of letters and notices to people who have unclaimed assets,” he said. “We also have advertisements that we place in local media around the state and we work with other states in the country to research and locate unclaimed property owners.”

To see if the state has funds or property that belong to you, or to file a claim, visit the Unclaimed Property website.

“We hope that we can track down people or they will contact us so that we can give their funds back to them,” Greenberg said.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Nailea Leon contributed to this report.

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