Greenbrier County residents had a cumulative $48,000 returned to them by State Treasurer John Perdue’s unclaimed property program, the highest total in the seven-county Eastern Highlands region. The figures are for the fiscal 2014 year.
Unclaimed property is any asset from which an individual has been separated, such as forgotten utility deposits or abandoned safe deposit box contents. By law, the holder of the property – such as a bank – is obligated to report the asset to State Treasurer John Perdue’s office.
“Every day we attempt to find the rightful owners of unclaimed property and verify identity,” Perdue said. “We take that mission very seriously, whether it’s trying to find rightful owners in Wirt County (pop. 5,839) or Kanawha (pop. 191,000).”
Totals for the region are:
• Greenbrier – $48,000
• Preston – $44,000
• Randolph – $28,000
• Nicholas – $15,000
• Tucker – $10,000
• Webster – $10,000
• Pocahontas – $7,000
In fiscal 2014, Treasurer Perdue’s office returned approximately $7 million in unclaimed property – some $5 million to state residents and the rest to those who had lost property in West Virginia but moved to another state. In that case, the state of last address is the one which issues the unclaimed property check.
The Treasurer’s Office has returned $47 million to owners during the last five years.