DENVER (KDVR) — Odds are good that Coloradans may have money or property sitting in a state treasury bank vault.
Nationally, there are tens of billions of dollars worth of unclaimed property sitting in state treasuries waiting for claimants. The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators keeps a national map that leads to each state’s treasury.
State Treasurer Dave Young calls this the “Great Colorado Payback.” Unclaimed cash can be anything from unpaid wages or tax refunds to long-lost property deeds or inheritances.
The Colorado treasury’s unclaimed property division lists $960 million in unclaimed cash, 418 million unclaimed company shares and nearly 7,000 physical items in its unclaimed property inventory. Unclaimed valuables of some kind are found in every county and most cities.
Most states say citizens have a decent chance of recovering some kind of lost property, though many claims are small. Colorado gives residents a one in five chance that they have unclaimed property in their name.