Check your mail for Money Match check
Harrisburg. It could have one of 39,045 payments sent to commonwealth residents for unclaimed property.
A second round of Pennsylvania Money Match checks have hit mailboxes - and people are being urged to cash them.
The Money Match program allows the Pennsylvania Treasury Department to automatically return certain unclaimed property to its rightful owners. It was unanimously approved by the General Assembly and signed by the governor last year.
”It’s exciting to see so many people getting money they didn’t know they had,” Treasury Department treasurer Stacy Garrity said. “It’s now important that people cash these checks. We want everyone to know this is a real program and this is real money. Every dollar we return to Pennsylvania families is money they can use to buy groceries, fill up their cars with gas, or pay their rent or mortgage. This money belongs to them, not the state.”
In early May, notification letters were sent out letting people know that their unclaimed property would be returned. This second round of payments includes 39,045 checks, totaling $9.2 million in unclaimed property.
Unclaimed property includes dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, forgotten stocks, insurance policies, tangible property like the contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes, and more. In most cases, state law requires businesses to report unclaimed property to the Treasury after three years of dormancy.
More than one in 10 Pennsylvanians is owed unclaimed property, and the average claim is worth more than $1,000, the Treasury said, adding that it plans to return $30 million through the program in 2025.
Money Match checks are scheduled to be sent quarterly. The next batch of about 40,000 letters, will go out in August.
“Pennsylvania is doing right by its workers and taxpayers by automatically returning more than $10 million in unclaimed property back to its rightful owners through the first two rounds of the Money Match program. Anytime we can cut red tape and return money directly to taxpayers is a reason to celebrate,” Rep. Ryan Bizzarro said.
Find more information about the program at patreasury.gov/MoneyMatch.