Oregon Is Mailing Checks of Up to $10,000 in Unclaimed Money to 13,000 People This Month

About 13,000 people are expected to receive checks from Oregon State Treasury in October, sharing in approximately $7 million in unclaimed money. Recipients won’t need to file claims or submit applications to receive their payments.

Checks Without Claims of $50 to $10,000 Are Being Mailed in October

The initiative, known as ‘Checks Without Claims’, identifies eligible owners and returns money reported to the state in 2024 that businesses and organizations were unable to deliver. Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner indicated that individual checks will range from $50 to $10,000, and recipients were notified in September that they might be owed money.

To qualify, the property must belong to a single individual, be worth between $50 and $10,000, and have been reported under that person’s Social Security number. The program is designed to simplify the process for people whose money might otherwise remain unclaimed.

Over the last 20 years, Oregon’s Unclaimed Property Program refunded over $745 million to owners. Another $1 billion is still available to be claimed, but stocks, bonds, and mutual funds are excluded from the automatic distribution.

Who Qualifies for Automatic Payments and What Other Owners Can Do

Those who qualify for this year’s checks don’t need to take any action. Treasury cautions, however, that some recipients may not receive payments if the agency lacks their current mailing address or the property was not reported under their Social Security number.

The agency advises people who received notification letters to wait for their checks rather than submit a claim for the same property. Filing a claim could delay processing by six to seven months.

Even if you didn’t qualify for automatic payments, you could still search for unclaimed funds and submit a claim through the state’s official website, unclaimed.oregon.gov. Searching for money and filing a claim are free, and unclaimed funds do not expire.

The Treasury suggested that, even if they haven’t received a notification, Oregon residents should check the database, as there may be other money waiting to be claimed.