$750 million in unclaimed property in South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) – There is more than $750 million in unclaimed property located across South Carolina. The South Carolina State Treasurer says 615,000 new properties have been reported to the state’s unclaimed property program. State Treasurer Curtis Loftis is encouraging individuals, businesses, charities, schools and organizations to check treasurer.sc.gov to see if you have money waiting.
Money comes to the State Treasurer’s Office by law where people have returned money, stocks, bonds, inheritances, any intangible property that does not belong to them. The office acts as a custodian of the unclaimed funds and Loftis says while it’s in safe keeping it’s being used. “We invest that money, we get money in and money out on a daily basis so we invest it. A large chunk of some of the older money that we may not be able to find the owners to, we give that to the General Assembly and they’ll build bridges, schools, or whatever.”
Treasurer Loftis says often times the office shares the stories of people with large claims such as 1 million dollars but really any amount is a great surprise.
“You give a single mother with three children $300 and she may very well cry. You give a grandmother who is living alone, who doesn’t have a car — this is how she’s going to pay for her medicine for three month. It’s hard to understand how impactful it is for people who can find funds that they didn’t know they had,” says Loftis. He recommends people check the website at least twice a year.
