NASHVILLE, TN — The Tennessee Department of Treasury, Unclaimed Property Division returned $68.7 million of cash property to the rightful owners or their heirs, local governments, and reciprocal states during fiscal year 2023. It’s the most money the Division has ever returned in a single fiscal year.
The Division also returned a greater number of individual claims than ever before. Between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, the Division returned 65,150 claims, a 4.1 percent increase over the previous record high of 62,549 in FY19.
Unclaimed property is money that has been turned over to the State by businesses and organizations unable to locate the rightful owners, such as utility refunds, uncashed paychecks, credit balances for overpayments, rental deposit refunds, gift certificates, securities, and abandoned bank accounts. The Unclaimed Property program is a consumer protection program of the Department of Treasury that works to reunite this missing money with its rightful owner.
About 70 percent of claims are paid in as little as two weeks, on average. Anyone can see if they are owed any missing money by searching their name at ClaimItTN.gov, and may file a claim online if they find unclaimed property belonging to them.
In November, Treasury launched a new Unclaimed Property online claims portal at ClaimItTN.gov with more robust search capabilities and a new dashboard interface. The online database contains all unclaimed property in Tennessee dating to the beginning of the program. Treasury recommends searching for common misspellings of your name and addresses as well, as that may be why the business was unable to return the money to you initially. Our website also includes a link to help you search for missing money in other states.
The Division utilizes various methods to locate owners of unclaimed property, including mailing letters to the address provided when the property was turned over from the business (holder), and sending letters to employers of potential claimants whose Social Security Number has been matched with records from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. On average, the Unclaimed Property Division sends hundreds of thousands of letters each year to potential claimants. If you have received a letter, you can verify the information by searching the portal at ClaimItTN.gov.
There is no time limit on claiming the property, and there is never a fee to claim it in Tennessee. Beware of any service asking you to pay them to help you get your money back. If you are ever contacted about unclaimed property in Tennessee and would like to check the validity, go to ClaimItTN.gov.
