Baton Rouge – Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming, M.D., announced that approximately 143,000 unclaimed property checks totaling over $34 million will be mailed out on Friday May 30 following a data match to update addresses with the Louisiana Department of Revenue.
Recipients include approximately 1,000 residents of St. Martin Parish. Total amount for parish refunds is $210,000.
This is the largest batch of unclaimed property checks mailed to recipients since 2018. Checks will be mailed to individuals living in every parish in the state. In addition, the data matching identified 2,500 claims that are valued greater than our maximum for an automatic check. Those people will receive claim forms with instructions about how to complete the process.
“I want to stress to all of the recipients that these are real checks from the Louisiana Department of Treasury, so please cash them,” said Dr. Fleming. “Every year, some of the checks we mail out are not cashed. This is due to people changing addresses and others not believing the checks are real. Let me guarantee that these checks are real. It’s your money,” said Dr. Fleming.
Recipients should note the checks are blue and have the logo shown in the photo.
The checks will be mailed in a window envelope with the return address indicated in the photo.
Act 339, passed in the 2018 regular legislative session, permits the Louisiana Department of Revenue to share its database of current addresses with the Louisiana Department of Treasury to return unclaimed property. As a result, the Louisiana Department of Treasury annually updates the addresses on file and clears out a backlog of unclaimed property still on the books and mails checks to citizens without the need to file a claim.
There is currently $1.2 billion in unclaimed property to return to Louisiana citizens. Each year businesses turn over millions of dollars in unclaimed cash, stocks, bonds, securities, and insurance proceeds to the Louisiana State Treasurer’s Office. Occasionally, the address the company has on record is no longer correct. One of the main reasons an item becomes unclaimed property is an incorrect or old address.
These assets are known as “unclaimed property,” and can include payroll checks, old bank accounts, royalties, utility deposits, interest payments, stock certificates, and life insurance proceeds.
One in six individuals in Louisiana has unclaimed property, with claims averaging $900. To find out if you have unclaimed property, search at LaCash-Claim.org or call the Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Division tollfree at 1-888-925-4127 (Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 4:00 pm).
