Unclaimed property available for Richmond County residents

ROCKINGHAM — North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell is encouraging North Carolina residents to see if they have unclaimed property they can be reimbursed for.

Unclaimed property is something that is owed to an individual that was never received. It could be their last paycheck before moving, an unknown bank account, a rent deposit that was returned, or a stock certificate that was lost.

In Richmond County, there are about 67,000 records of unclaimed properties for its 44,829 citizens. These records represent an available amount of $4.5 million, according to Folwell. These properties belong to all types of entities, not just individual people.

“The County of Richmond has three entries, the Clerk of Court has entries, the county EMS and the school system have entries,” Folwell explained. “We think about this in terms of individuals, but it’s non-profits, governmental agencies, and businesses [that can have unclaimed property].”

The money that is available does not have a deadline for being claimed — it’s available forever, Folwell said. Previous claims have been of more than $1 million. Some of the items returned have included the contents of lockboxes, which in at least one case had some WW2 medals that had been sought by a family for years.

About 125,000 North Carolina residents received $73,000,000 in unclaimed funds in 2020, a record for the state. Folwell said that the record could potentially be doubled this year.

“We want to get this money back in the hands of the rightful owners,” Folwell said.

If an individual is deceased, the path to claim money is more difficult, but still possible, he added.

For reference, there are 32,953 unclaimed entries worth $2,173,102.08 in remaining cash. In Scotland County, there’s 52,173 unclaimed entries worth $3,108,376.40.

To check to see if you have unclaimed property, visit nccash.com. Every state has a similar website and it’s free to enter your information.