Red, White and BOOM! Great Iowa Treasure Hunt Celebrating Fourth With a Bang!

DES MOINES, IA (06/30/2016)(readMedia)-- State Treasurer Michael L. Fitzgerald announced today the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt has reached a milestone of returning unclaimed property to half-a-million rightful owners. "Since the program's inception in 1983, we have returned $214 million through the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt to 500,000 past and present Iowans," Fitzgerald said. "This milestone reinforces our dedication to reuniting unclaimed property with its rightful owners. While we are proud of this accomplishment, we still have over $300 million to return."

Every year, millions of dollars in unclaimed property is turned over to the state treasurer's office. Unclaimed property refers to money and other assets held by financial institutions or companies that have lost contact with the property's owner for a specific period of time. State law requires these institutions and companies to annually report unclaimed property to the state treasurer's office.

Common forms of unclaimed property include savings or checking accounts, stocks, uncashed checks, life insurance policies, utility security deposits and safe deposit box contents. "Returning money and other property to people has always been one of the best parts of my job," Fitzgerald stated. "I encourage people to go out to our website and check if they have money waiting to be claimed."

Visit the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt at GreatIowaTreasureHunt.gov to begin your search. Like Great Iowa Treasure Hunt on Facebook and follow the program on Twitter (@GreatIATreasure).

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