About 13,000 Oregonians will get a check in the mail this month that they never asked for, from $50 to $10,000, with a letter from State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner. It is not a scam. It is the Treasury’s “Checks Without Claims” program, which returns unclaimed property to its owners without making them file a claim, the Treasury announced Friday.
The money, about $7 million in all, was reported to the state in 2024 by businesses and organizations that could not find its owners: uncashed paychecks and refunds, forgotten bank accounts, credit balances, investment accounts. The Treasury matched the records to current addresses, sent notice letters in September, and is mailing the checks now.
“At Treasury, we believe money belongs in Oregonians’ pockets, not sitting unclaimed,” Steiner said in the release. The Treasury did not say how many recipients are in Columbia County.
If you do not get a check, you may still be owed money. The state is holding about $1 billion in unclaimed property, and nearly one in seven Americans has some, according to the release. Anyone can search by name at unclaimed.oregon.gov; claims are free and the money never expires. Since the proactive program started in 2020 it has returned about $30 million to more than 70,000 people, and the program as a whole has returned more than $745 million in 20 years.
Two things to know. Real checks come from the Oregon State Treasury with the Treasurer’s letter and ask for nothing in return; anyone who calls or emails asking for a fee or your bank details to “release” unclaimed funds is not the state. And a search of your own name, your parents’ names and any business you have owned takes about a minute.
Questions: claims@ost.state.or.us or 503-378-4000. Program details: unclaimed.oregon.gov/app/checks-without-claims.