The Virginia Department of Treasury has way more money in unclaimed property than they originally told us, a News 3 investigation has uncovered.
For years, leaders with Virginia’s Unclaimed Property Division told us they had a little over $2 billion in unclaimed property, but we've now learned that number is actually $3.6 billion.
Unclaimed property can be a wide range of things, including old utility deposits, stocks, bond dividends, insurance proceeds, and in very rare cases, physical property.
Companies that obtain these funds and can't find the rightful owner are forced by law to send them to the Department of Treasury in Virginia.
Watch: Virginia has $2 billion in unclaimed property. Some of it could be yours.
The News 3 Investigative Team has been pressing the Virginia Department of Treasury to explain their unclaimed property operation. Since our interview with them in April, we have repeatedly asked for the exact total amount of unclaimed property that the state has.
Our requests were denied by email twice — initially. So, we filed a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) for a liability report, which we were told contained the exact total, but the FOIA request was denied.
Finally, after continued pressing, State Treasurer David Richardson called and told us the figure was 80% higher.
No reason for this discrepancy was given.
Watch: Does the Department of Treasury have money that's owed to you?
Lawmakers in Richmond get involved
Our original investigation got the attention of lawmakers, including Del. Cliff Hayes from District 77, southwest of Richmond. Hayes is on the Appropriations Committee, which determines how state funds are used.
Hayes told News 3 he's concerned.
“Fundamentally, it should concern anybody because this is not our money," said Hayes. "There's no question about whether or not this is the state's money or the people's money. It's clearly is defined that this belongs to the individuals, the people."
Richardson and state lawmakers say they are looking at making it easier for people to get their money — possibly through legislation.
“As lawmakers, it's our job to make sure that we can find other ways to improve these processes,” said Hayes.
Del. Phil Hernandez, of District 94, which covers the northern area of Norfolk, agrees.
“I have some reservations about making people jump through a whole bunch of hoops in order to claim something that already belongs to them,” Hernandez said.
News 3 reached out to leaders in other states to learn how they operate with unclaimed property.
In Wisconsin, they have about $800 million in unclaimed property. But by contrast, the Department of Revenue handles unclaimed property — not the Department of Treasury. They use tax information and other means to reunite people with their property and money.
“That was kind of a game changer for us," said Anne Eudaly, an unclaimed property section supervisor with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. "It allowed us to have access to a broader database.”
In Virginia, they do not use DMV or tax information to reunite people with funds, they said.
Watch: You may have money owed to you that you don't know about
What about other states?
Wisconsin and some other states send people their money without needing to file a claim.
Wisconsin also has a data match program, so when new claims come in, they run them against tax information.
“We run the incoming properties against the records that we have and automatically send out checks to individuals if the value of the property is under $2,000,” said Eudaly.
Virginia is exploring these methods, Richardson said. But first, state law would need to change.
Each state is different, Richardson says. For example, Virginia has a high number of people who move in and out of the state due to the military and other factors. A state could have more unclaimed property if it aggressively goes after companies or groups that owe the money.
Dels. Hayes and Hernandez said they are in discussions about the potential for new legislation.
“There have been some other states that have already moved on this issue and are doing this sort of an automatic process with some success,” said Hernandez.
Unclaimed Property Watchdog Ron Lizzi has been instrumental in raising questions and concerns about unclaimed property throughout the U.S. He had exposed issues in this home state of Connecticut and reached out to News 3 months ago with concerns.
He believes tax and DMV information and other government databases should work together to return the money and property.
“Having state agencies not talk to each other doesn't make any sense,” said Lizzi, adding that he doesn't think enough is done.
“The state should not be pretending that they're just helpless and they can't find the owners and return their money. That's simply not true,” said Lizzi.
And it’s not just people with unclaimed property: there are many cities and organizations across the commonwealth with unclaimed funds.
“This can be a ton of money," Lizzi said. "The city of Philadelphia found that they had $6 million held by the state so it's easy to imagine that local governments in Virginia have millions and millions of dollars."
Watch: News 3 helps Virginia Beach man get $3,000 in unclaimed property
Transparency in Virginia
Richardson said his agency is transparent and offered News 3 a tour of their offices in April.
With renewed attention on the issue, there’s been an explosion in people filing claims, which has caused a backlog. But they are working diligently to catch up, Richardson said.
From 2022 to 2023, they've increased the number of claims sent out by four times.
Efforts to relieve the backlog involve hiring more people and opening a new call center. But with fraud always a major concern, they don't put the exact amounts people are owed online.
Bradley Earl with Virginia Unclaimed Property spoke with News 3 in April.
“It’s really easy to impersonate somebody to get those funds," Earl said. "The higher the dollar amount, if we put the exact money amount on the website, would really encourage some bad actors to come after those funds."
Critics say if other states do it, Virginia should, too.
“States like to use fraud as a boogeyman. They say they want to make sure that the money doesn't end up in the wrong hands," Lizzi says. "What they fail to recognize is that their hands are the wrong hands. Money that is not returned ends up in the wrong hands the state's hands."
Dels. Hayes and Hernandez said they’re working on new legislation they hope to introduce next year.
“Any process can be improved so we ought to embrace any ideas that can help us get to a place where we're returning the people's money to them," Hayes said. "There is no question that this is the peoples’ money so we ought to be doing all we can to return their money to them."
"This is money that belongs to people," adds Hernandez. "We should be proactive when it comes to making sure that they get it."
Here is a link to search for unclaimed property in Virginia.
Here is the link to search in North Carolina.
Here is the national link to search to see if you have unclaimed property.
