Program seeks owners
of unclaimed property
If you’re one who is wont to search for change between the couch cushions, then a visit to Kewanee from the Illinois State Treasurer’s office will be right up your Davenport.
A representative of the office will be at the Kewanee Library from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday as part of the state’s I-Cash program, which is meant to reunite unclaimed money to its rightful Illinois owners.
And it’s a lot of money. Nearly $3 billion of it, in fact.
According to a treasurer’s office spokesman, it’s estimated that one in four residents have something to claim, with an average claim of about $1,000 and about 15 million different items currently unclaimed.
“It is returning unclaimed property that has been put in the custody of the state by private vendors over the years,” said Pat O’Brien, a spokesman for the office of Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs.
He said the typical claim is for old stocks and securities, uncashed checks, undistributed wills, old insurance settlements and any number of transactions that simply got lost somewhere in the system, usually after a family member died.
Accounts could exist inside or outside the state.
“The state will hold on to them indefinitely,” he said. “We’re trying to turn this property back to their rightful owners.”
O’Brien said an official at the Kewanee Library event will search through the state system for any Henry County curious residents who think they may have a windfall secretly hidden away – or even just the hopeful.
He said the process does not require a Social Security number, only a name (including middle and maiden) and a zip code.
The search also can be conducted online at icash.illinois. gov, though the treasurer’s office is visiting several Illinois cities to raise the program’s profile and help anyone who may not have computer access.
O’Brien said the unclaimed property program – that the state exhausts all resources to return property to residents -- is among the state’s oldest property laws.
He said there are several success stories of people who didn’t think they had something to claim, and then found something when they searched.
“A lot of people are unaware they even have it,” he said. “It’s very much worth checking out.”