Morning, lovelies. Chloé here, + you might have free money. Yes. I said free money. And no. It’s not a scam or complicated process to claim your cash.
I’ve covered countless topics in almost 15 years as a professional journalist and — with that as context — what I’m about to share with you is one of the most underrated, impactful annual stories I’ve encountered.
Heard. | Gif by Giphy
Anyone with a last-known address in Tennessee may have unclaimed money that the state is holding. It could be an old utility deposit you forgot about or an old payroll check that didn’t make it to an address before you moved.
If a company tries to send the funds but it doesn’t make it, that money goes to The Tennessee Department of Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Division.
Then, the state tries to find the rightful owner.
If that person has died, the appropriate family member can claim it. There is no time limit for residents to make claims.
Since first writing about this in 2015, I’ve periodically searched for money. I’ve found a few hundred dollars I didn’t know I had, including $90 that I found Monday morning. It’s like finding $10 in an old winter coat but better. 🙌
OK, so how do I search for my money?
- Click here for the state’s unclaimed money search, and from there, click the blue rectangular button that says, “Search for your unclaimed property online.” 💰
- For an individual, enter your last name where it says, “Owner name.”
- Prove you aren’t a robot. 🤖
- Next, pick the city you want to search.
- Search the list of names to see if your name is there. If it is, click your name and see how much you are owed. If it’s not, you can try to search for another city or last name. 🕵️
- Once you find your money, there’s a short form that asks you for your social security + driver’s license number, along with a bit more basic information.
- Type that info in to make your claim.
- From there, state officials go through a due diligence process to make sure the right person is claiming the money. Claims can take about eight to 10 weeks to process. ⌚
Fast facts + tips
- 65.4 million. That’s the amount of money the state returned to rightful owners or their heirs, local governments + reciprocal states during the fiscal year 2019.
- That’s also the most the unclaimed property division has ever returned in a single fiscal year.
- As of June 30, 2019, there is $976.8 million waiting to be claimed.
- Anyone without Internet access can call the Unclaimed Property Division at 615-741-6499 to get the process started.
- Anyone searching “Chattanooga” should try all the possible options in the city search box. For example, there’s a “Chatt” option and other misspellings of the city’s name. The information listed on the website is written just as the company turned it over to the state.
- Also, try searching for common misspellings of your name and address.
