Extra Holiday Gift Waiting At YourMoney.OK.gov?

NEWS9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- As the holiday season arrives, a little extra cash could go a long way. That cash could be waiting for you in the form of unclaimed property. More than $300 million for over 500,000 Oklahomans is in the state's Unclaimed Property fund and can be easily found by visiting http://YourMoney.OK.gov

In the past four years, Treasurer Scott Meacham has returned almost $61 million in unclaimed property to more than 67,000 Oklahomans. Unclaimed property includes everything from jewelry, stock certificates, coin collections and cash. Searching for unclaimed property is a free service and is as easy as entering a valid last name and clicking a 'Search Unclaimed Property' button.

"The odds of an Oklahoman having unclaimed property are one-in-seven, much better odds than winning the lottery," said State Treasurer Scott Meacham. "Besides, our service is always free. We never make you pay for getting what rightfully belongs to you."

Property is considered unclaimed when there is a lack of activity generated by the rightful owner of the property. Evidence of this inactivity includes failure to cash a check, the return of a check or correspondence by the Post Office as undeliverable, or the absence of any communication from the owner. If property remains unclaimed for a certain number of years set by statute, it is considered abandoned and must be reported to the state's unclaimed property program.

The Oklahoma State Treasurer's Unclaimed Property online service is a product of a partnership between the Oklahoma State Treasurer and OK.gov, Oklahoma's Official Web site.