The Oklahoma State Treasurer’s Office maintains a database of unclaimed properties with more than 350,000 names, and one of them could be yours. Whether you have family in the state or have moved multiple times, there are several reasons why property is not claimed in Oklahoma.
If you recently moved somewhere within Oklahoma or had some type of address change, a business may owe you money but cannot locate you. In 2018, more than $ 260 million in cash and valuables are still waiting to be claimed by the rightful owners or heirs.
Although the land and buildings are not part of the Unclaimed Property Database, you can search the archives for never-cashed tax refund checks, safe deposit box contents, stocks and bonds, royalties, utility deposits public, inactive checking or savings accounts and uncollected money requested.
How to claim ownership
If you are or were a former Oklahoma resident, or have ancestors of the state, you can refer to the Oklahoma State Treasurer’s Unclaimed Property Database using your legal name and city of residence. Searching the database is free, and if the search returns any results for your name, you can claim ownership using an online form.
Once you have found your name on the unclaimed property register, simply click on your name and you will be directed to a page detailing the property you need to claim. You will need to enter personal information, including your address, phone number, and social security number, and wait for a response from the State Treasurer’s Office.
Like most processes in state governments, completing your claim through the Treasurer’s Office will take at least four to six weeks to complete. However, there is no time limit on how long you have to claim your unclaimed property – the state has a legal obligation to keep it until it is claimed.
Avoid scams and don’t pay for searches
Most states in the United States have a database like Oklahoma’s that is run by the state Treasury Department, and all of them are free. However, there are several websites available online that attempt to charge people a monthly fee to search and scan by state for any unclaimed property.
While these websites may return results and direct you to unclaimed properties in the database, you will still have to file a claim for your property through the official state website. This means that you will have wasted money for a business to do something it will have to do anyway – look up your name and city in the database and fill out a claim form online.
There are other scams around unclaimed property and funds, so as a general rule, you should not trust any website that does not include “.gov” in the URL. Also, you should never give out personal information like your social security number or online bank account number if you cannot verify the legitimacy of the business you are using.
The best way to avoid scams related to your unclaimed property is to use the website of the State Treasurer’s Office in your state of residence online. While other websites may be convenient with full unclaimed property from various states, it is not worth the risk of having your identity stolen online, especially when most people’s unclaimed property is worth less than $ 100.
