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By Charlotte Keith | Spotlight PA
Starting next year, Pennsylvania will return some unclaimed money directly to the people it belongs to instead of requiring them to first file a claim with the state Treasury.
A bill to allow the change passed the state legislature in July with unanimous support, and was signed into law by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.
The change marks a significant election year victory for state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a Republican who proposed the legislation last year and will face Democrat Erin McClelland in November.
“I can’t wait to get this money back to the Pennsylvanians it belongs to,” Garrity said in a statement after the law was signed.
Pennsylvania holds more than $4.5 billion in unclaimed property — money from inactive bank accounts, uncashed checks, and unused gift cards that by law must be turned over to the state. The original owners never lose their right to file a claim with the state Treasury to get their money back — but many likely do not realize it is waiting for them.
The new law addresses this problem by allowing the agency to proactively return some unclaimed money without requiring people to file claims. The change will apply only to amounts under $500 owed to a single person. For amounts over that threshold, property owed to more than one person, or to businesses and nonprofits, claims will still be required.
The state Treasury estimates that more than 70,000 people will receive money back in 2025. Still, the overall amount of money returned will be small: $600,000 in the first fiscal year, according to a legislative estimate. Pennsylvania typically returns at least $100 million each fiscal year.
Once the law goes into effect in January, Pennsylvania Treasury officials will start sending out letters to confirm property owners’ current addresses. The first batch of checks will go out by the end of February, a spokesperson said. The agency plans to send checks out each quarter.
Since taking office in 2021, Garrity has made unclaimed property a priority, overseeing a major upgrade to fast-track claims that began under her predecessor, and directing the agency to pay some claims via direct deposit, instead of only by paper checks.
In an email to Spotlight PA, Ron Lizzi, an advocate who argues that states should return more unclaimed property, described the bill as a “small step forward” but called the reform “years late” and the $500 threshold “way too low.” Other states have set the threshold for returns without claims at $5,000 or even $10,000, he noted.
Garrity originally sought a limit of $5,000. But House Democrats voted in December to lower that threshold to $100, arguing that the effort should start small and show success before being expanded. The change came as state Rep. Ryan Bizzarro of Erie, a candidate in the Democratic primary for state treasurer, attacked Garrity’s handling of unclaimed property.
Bizzarro, who lost the primary to McClelland in an upset, described the bill in an email to Spotlight PA as “meaningful legislation that will put money back into the hands of Pennsylvanians.”
Garrity noted in a statement to Spotlight PA that “nothing prevents us from increasing the limit in the future.”
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