Treasurer Stacy Garrity Announces Return of Nearly $1 Million in Unclaimed Property to Bedford County

Bedford, PA - Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity and the Bedford County Commissioners announced today that nearly $1 million in unclaimed property has been returned to Bedford County.

"It's exciting to get this money back where it belongs - to benefit the residents of Bedford County. My team and I will always work to return property to its rightful owners, no matter how long it has been unclaimed - and regardless of whether it's a few dollars, or, like it is here, almost a million dollars. I encourage everyone to search our website to see if they or their loved ones may be owed some of the more than $4.5 billion in unclaimed property being safeguarded by Treasury."

Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity

"With the funding challenges the county is facing, this could not have come at a better time. Anything to ease the burden on our taxpayers is welcomed."

Bedford County Commissioners

"It's always incredibly fulfilling to see this program bring hard-earned dollars back into the right hands. When funds are able to work their way back to benefit our greater community, it's even better. This $1 million is an exciting opportunity that has the potential to positively impact every resident of Bedford County, all made possible by Treasury's diligence in tracking unclaimed property. My office has seen life-changing amounts of money returned to its rightful owners, so I always implore anyone to check Treasurer Garrity's website to see if there is anything out there waiting for them."

Senator Pat Stefano (R-32)

"This announcement proves the success of Pennsylvania's unclaimed property program and the efforts of Treasurer Garrity. It is vitally important residents receive the property that is rightfully theirs. I applaud the Treasurer and her staff for returning so much property to residents of Beford County where it belongs."

Rep. Jesse Topper (R-78)

The $915,849.35 returned to Bedford County includes 51 individual properties. The oldest property dates back to 1996, while the most recent is from 2017. Properties returned include funds from accounts payable checks, a bank draft, checking accounts, refund/rebates, suspense accounts, uncashed checks, and other forms of unclaimed property.

How the funds are spent will be determined by Bedford County officials.

In addition to this most recent return, Treasury worked with county leaders to return an additional $43,000 to Bedford County in July 2023.

"This is a great example of why it's such a good idea to check for unclaimed property regularly. The fact that we've been able to return unclaimed property to Bedford County twice in two years is tremendous. I encourage people to check our website at least twice a year, and suggest folks communicate with their financial institutions at least once every three years to prevent their money from becoming unclaimed property in the first place."

Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity

Treasurer Garrity has returned more than $17.7 million to nearly 100 local government agencies, including counties and municipalities.

Treasury is working to return more than $4.5 billion in unclaimed property to its rightful owners, including $3.6 million owed to Bedford County residents. More than one in ten Pennsylvanians is owed unclaimed property, and the average claim is worth about $1,600.

Unclaimed property can include dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, insurance policies, contents of forgotten safe deposit boxes and more. State law requires businesses to report unclaimed property to Treasury after three years of dormancy.

Treasury keeps tangible unclaimed property for about three years before it is auctioned. Auction proceeds are kept in perpetuity for owners to claim. Military decorations and memorabilia are never auctioned.

To learn more about unclaimed property or to search Treasury's database, visit patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property.

Media contacts:
Samantha Heckel, Press Secretary (Treasury), 717-418-0206 or [email protected]
Debra Brown, Chief Clerk/Director of Elections (Bedford County), 814-623-4807, [email protected]

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.