Ohioans file more than 33,000 claims during unclaimed funds competition with Michigan

Throughout the month of November and leading up to The Game, the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Unclaimed Funds took part in a battle of unclaimed funds with the Michigan Department of Treasury to see which state’s residents could search for and claim the most forgotten funds.

In the inaugural “Find Forgotten Funds” competition, Michigan came out on top in the number of searches for unclaimed funds on missingmoney.com, but Ohio came out on top in the total number of claims filed.

Michigan had more than 240,000 searches for unclaimed funds while Ohio completed the competition with 226,860 searches. As a result of those searches, Ohioans filed 33,386 claims to reclaim their missing money. In Michigan, searches led to 19,269 claims being filed.

So far in November, the Ohio Division of Unclaimed Funds has paid out more than $3.4 million in unclaimed funds.

“Congratulations to our friends in Michigan on a great performance in this first-of-its-kind competition,” Ohio Division of Unclaimed Funds Superintendent Akil Hardy said. “Ultimately, it was the residents of both states who won in this competition with more than 52,000 people in both states finding their missing money. We’re already looking forward to a rematch with Michigan next fall.”
 
For all of those who filed a claim during the “Find Forgotten Funds” competition, they can upload their documents online here. It could take up to 120 days for those claims to be reviewed and processed. Once they are approved, the claimants will receive a check in the mail.

Just because the competition with Michigan has come to a close doesn’t mean Ohioans can’t still search for their missing money. They can search for their unclaimed funds at any time on missingmoney.com. The division encourages everyone to search for unclaimed funds on a regular basis, even if they have already filed a claim in the past. It’s also a great practice to search for family members and loved ones.

Unclaimed funds are lost or forgotten money that businesses and banks report to the division after accounts become inactive, typically 3-5 years. The money comes from inactive checking and savings accounts, refund/credit balances, uncashed cashier’s checks, stocks and bonds and forgotten utility deposits or last paychecks.