Illinois Unclaimed Property

More than $5 billion is still waiting to be returned

The Illinois State Treasurer’s Office helps reunite people, businesses, and nonprofits with funds that belong to them. Missing money can come from sources such as forgotten bank accounts, uncashed checks, insurance payments, utility refunds, or safe-deposit box contents that were turned over to the state.

Missing Money Is Real, and We Return It Every Day

Each year, we help more than 300,000 people search for and recover missing money. Since taking office, Treasurer Michael Frerichs has returned more than $2.5 billion to more than 2.5 million people.

Take Our Online Learning Course

This course provides an overview of the unclaimed property cycle, starting with an explanation of the various types of unclaimed property and the reasons property may become unclaimed. We’ll also discuss the reporting process, including how property is reported to the state for safekeeping until it can be reunited with the rightful owner. Since prevention is the best medicine, we’ll provide tips to keep your property from becoming unclaimed in the first place, and conclude with resources users can use to search for unclaimed property.

Simpler Way to Get Your Money Back

Through Enhanced Money Match, the Treasurer’s Office can use state databases to identify some eligible owners and mail checks directly to them. That means some people can get their money back without even filing a claim. Since 2018, Enhanced Money Match has helped more than 870,000 people recover more than $130 million of their own money.