Louisiana Treasury and Acadiana Mall Host Unclaimed Property Event on Saturday

Louisiana residents have more than $600 million in unclaimed property and Acadiana residents can see if any of this money belongs to them at an Unclaimed Property Awareness Day on Saturday, Aug. 23 at the Acadiana Mall here in Lafayette.

“This money belongs to the people, and the Legislature and I want to give it back to them. It only takes a few minutes to find out if you have money in the treasury, and it’s a free service. You might find money to help pay your back-to-school shopping bills,” State Treasurer John Kennedy said.

To find out if you have any unclaimed property, you are invited to visit employees from the Treasury's Unclaimed Property Division who will be stationed in the Center Court at the Acadiana Mall on Saturday from 10am-3pm. They will assist citizens in filing unclaimed property claims.

You are asked to bring a valid photo I.D. and Social Security card to speed up the processing of your claims. Active duty military and retired veterans should bring their military I.D.s.

No checks will be issued at the event. Checks for all approved claims will be issued and mailed as quickly as possible after the event.

The average claim is $900 and comes from things like old savings and checking accounts, payroll checks, CDs, stocks and dividends, insurance proceeds, oil and gas royalty payments, utility deposits and similar funds. Since 1972, the Unclaimed Property Program has returned more than $338 million to nearly 570,000 Louisiana citizens.

If you cannot attend the event, you can go online to search for missing money. Go to www.LATreasury.com or call the Treasury's toll-free hotline at 1-888-925-4127 (Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm).