Governor Youngkin approved a new law that will get you money that’s owed back to you from the government more quickly following a WTKR News 3 investigation.
For over a year, WTKR has been exposing how the process of unclaimed property is handled in Virginia and outlined how some people think we could be doing it better.
A WTKR News 3 Investigation got the attention of lawmakers who introduced new legislation this session.
Watch: Virginia lawmakers pass 'Cash Now Act' after News 3 unclaimed property investigation
Delegate Phil Hernandez filed House Bill 1606 which is called the Cash Now Act was just signed into law by Governor Youngkin.
Right now, the Treasury Department reports that they have $3.8 billion dollars in unclaimed money.
If a business or organization can’t find the rightful owner they’re required by law to hand it over to the Treasurer. This could be a wide range of things to include old utility deposits, bonds, dividends, insurance payouts, and in extremely rare cases physical property.
The vast majority of the unclaimed property is money being held by the Treasurer's Office.
Watch: VA Treasurer declines News 3 questions after meeting on unclaimed property reform
Previously, a person could go online, search their name, and file a claim online to request your money be sent to you. You can still use this website to search your name for claims.
Now the new law allows the Treasurer to automatically send you a check without you having to file a claim if it’s under $5,000 dollars and money owed directly to you. It can’t be money from a deceased relative that you are entitled to.
Over a year ago, watchdog Ron Lizzi wrote WTKR Investigative Reporter Margaret Kavanagh an email asking her to look into how unclaimed property is handled in Virginia.
WTKR has previously done stories showing people how to search their name for unclaimed property. Lizzi requested us to look deeper into how the entire process works because he felt Virginia was doing a very bad job at returning money.
WTKR started asking questions and uncovered that the Treasury Department actually had $3.6 billion not the $2 billion they had been reporting for years and that number is now $3.8 billion.
Watch: The Virginia Department of Treasury has $3.6B of your money — not $2B, as previously reported
We exposed the millions of dollars in interest being generated by the unclaimed property, and compared us to other states, showing ways that some people think were better.
Delegate Cliff Hayes was a major supporter of House Bill 1606 and the overall unclaimed property process. He introduced a bill that would force the Treasury Department to work with the Department of Taxation to help reunited people with money, but that law didn’t pass.
Watch: Virginia unclaimed property generates millions for the state
A few months ago, the Treasurer said there is no way to return much of the $3.8 billion dollars because people are either dead or there is not enough information to track them down. We tried to get him to speak to us on camera about this during a trip we took to Richmond, but he declined only saying he was excited by the new bill and that it represented bipartisan legislation that will further support our ongoing efforts to improve Virginia’s unclaimed property processes.
Wednesday he said via email, "Treasury is very excited to start the process of returning lost funds directly to citizens, eliminating the need for them to file a claim with our office."
He said within the next 60 days check notification letters should be mailed with actual checks scheduled to be sent out six weeks following the mailing of the letters.
They also changed a portion of their website. Previously, a person only had a vague estimate of how much they were owed. He said about a week ago they changed it to give a more precise number. He said there is an exact number for anything under $300. Then increments of $100 up to $1k ($301-$399, $400-$499, etc.) and anything over $1,000 will state 1,000 and above.
The Cash Now Act takes effect immediately, meaning it went into law when the Governor signed which was March 18, 2025.
