$59.4 million waiting to be claimed by Metro-East residents
SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois State Treasurer’s Office is searching for tens of thousands of Metro-East residents who have unclaimed property. Through the I-Cash program, the treasurer’s office safeguards more than $2.1 billion in unclaimed property belonging to millions of Illinois residents. Hundreds of thousands of new properties have been reported in recent months, including lost bank accounts, insurance policy proceeds, and utility refunds. Those new reports bring the total available to be claimed by residents of Jersey, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties to $59,459,205 from 290,977 properties as of January.
“We want to return this property to its rightful owners,” Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs said. “Whether it is a savings account someone started for you as a child, or U.S. savings bonds from World War II that your grandparents forgot about in a safe deposit box, the proper place for these items is with their rightful owners.”
Starting April 5th, names of 78,895 individuals who have unclaimed property worth more than $100 or stock, bonds, mutual funds, or safe deposit box contents that was reported over the past six months will be featured in newspaper ads across Illinois. Those listings represent a fraction of the 14 million properties reported since the program began in 1962 that are waiting to be claimed. All Illinoisans are encouraged to visit illinoistreasurer.gov to search for property and initiate a claim in as little as three minutes. Once the claim is filed with proof of ownership, individuals will receive their property in as little as three weeks. Last year, the average amount returned was $1,000.
Hundreds of thousands of new properties are collected from businesses by the State Treasurer’s I-Cash program each year, so residents are encouraged to check the State Treasurer’s I-Cash database every six months. For more information about the State Treasurer’s I-Cash program, visit illinoistreasurer.gov or call 217-785-6998.
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