Arkansas is sending surprise checks from unclaimed property
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I got a surprise $122 check, and you might have money you don't know about, too.
State of play: The Arkansas State Auditor's office has more than $400 million that belongs to current and former Arkansans, spokesperson Stacy Peterson told Axios in an email.
How it works: The office holds on to "unclaimed property" when entities owe individuals money but for whatever reason cannot get it to them. It can be the result of forgotten bank accounts, uncashed checks or inheritance, for example.
The latest: A new law allows the office to automatically issue checks to individuals with unclaimed property between $50 and $5,000 instead of requiring people to file a claim. The office is sending letters to eligible people letting them know they will be receiving a check within 90 days, Peterson said.
- "We are currently only issuing checks valued up to $1,000. For anything over $1,000, we are asking that people submit a signed claim form (which we will mail to them) along with a copy of their driver's license for additional verification purposes," she said in an email.
- Businesses or people who share property, like married couples, still have to file their claims online.
Yes, but: Anyone can still go ahead and claim their money. I did not wait for the state to track me down and instead spent about a minute filling out a simple form online, just confirming it belongs to me and my correct address. I got a check about a week later that I plan to use to support my book-buying habit.
- I searched my name and saw that I had more than $100 from a bank I had a car loan through years ago.
Flashback: This is my second Christmas morning via the state of Arkansas. I learned about this process several years ago from Credit Karma and wound up having a check from an old utility account.
- It turns out I had put down a deposit for a new electricity account, used the account for exactly one year and then moved and closed the account before the electric company could apply my deposit to my bill.
- Friends don't let friends not get their money, so I looked up all my people and notified them if they had checks waiting for them. I became very popular as some had several hundred dollars.