RICHMOND, Va. — News 3 traveled to Richmond Thursday to get a first hand look at lawmakers discussing proposed legislation about unclaimed property.
Two new bills were introduced after a News 3 investigation exposed issues with the current process. The Investigative Team has been working on this for months.
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The Housing and Consumer Protection Subcommittee passed the two bills unanimously which would make it easier for the people of Virginia get their unclaimed property—this is money that the Treasurer’s Office has in their possession that’s owed back to individuals, cities, businesses and other organizations.
House Bill 1606 would allow for the state to send people their money if they had a claim that was under $5,000 dollars without the person having to file a claim. Currently, people have to file a claim online with the state through the unclaimed property division in order to get their money.
Our investigation revealed how several other states already send out claims without people having to file claims.
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House Bill 1640 would cause the Department of Treasury to work with the Department of Taxation in an effort to help find people to send them the money they are owed.
For years, the Treasurer’s Office said they had $2 billion dollars but when we pressed them it came out that they actually have $3.6 billion dollars.
News 3 also reported on how the Treasurer’s Office generated $26 million dollars in interest in the past ten years.
On Thursday, the State Treasurer David Richardson said News 3 reported the wrong information and went on to explain that there is no way for his office to find the vast majority of the people or groups who are owed their portion of the $3.6 billion. He said his office has been gathering this money for decades and that in many cases the people are dead or they don’t have enough information and details about who they are.
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Investigative Reporter Margaret Kavanagh asked him why he and others from his office have been ignoring emails we sent them. Richardson refused to do an on camera interview or clarify any information about the new changes to the law.
The Deputy State Treasurer would only say they are excited about the new bill presented by Delegate Hernandez.
“We still have a long way to go before this little bill becomes a law, but it’s good to see bipartisan support and if this does become law, then Virginians are going to stand to get a lot more of the money that already belongs to them in the form of unclaimed property,” said Delegate Hernandez.
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With regard to House Bill 1640, the Treasurer told News 3 they’re already authorized to work with the Department of Taxation.
Richardson said they already work with a third party that many other states use to track people down.
However, Delegate Cliff Hayes said his bill would require them to work with taxation. He said there is a difference between being authorized and required to use the information to find the people.
“All I know is that if you’re already doing it, why are we having such a problem with so many people getting their money,” said Delegate Hayes.
Hayes stressed the $3.6 billion dollars is the people’s money not the state’s money. Hayes said the News 3 investigation was huge, put a light on the entire process and how politicians are making decisions.
“The fact that you’re here shedding light on how people are acting up here then it forces everybody do what they need to do in protecting what belongs to the people in the first place,” said Delegate Hayes.
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Unclaimed property is mostly money turned over to the Virginia Department of Treasury. Companies are legally required to do this when they can’t find the rightful owner. It can come from a wide range of things, including old utility deposits, stocks, bond dividends, insurance proceeds, and in very rare cases, physical property.
After national watchdog Ron Lizzi reached out to News 3 with concerns, we started to dig into this entire process.
News 3 met with Virginia Department of Treasury back in April to learn how the process works. State officials told News 3 they hired more people to work for the Unclaimed Property Department and set a record in paying out over $83.3 million, adding that they surpassed over 70,000 claims for the second year in a row.
The two new bills will now move onto the next committee to be heard—we will follow through to see what happens with these potential changes that would make it easier for you to get money you’re owed.
“It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is a broken process. You've identified that for me,” said Delegate Hayes.
