Karl Puckett

kpuckett@greatfallstribune.com

Zachary Adams, Melanie Byrnes, Lindsey Davis, the Montana Department of Revenue is looking for you.

What you have in common — and coming — is unclaimed property.

It could be an old work check, stocks or safety deposit box items left behind by parents, or money from a long-forgotten checking or savings account.

This year, the names of 14,000 people, including 1,100 in Cascade County, are being published in newspapers across Montana in DOR’s annual attempt to track down people who are owed cash or other valuables the department has acquired from businesses and banks within the past year.

Unclaimed property in the possession of the DOR totals more than $63 million.

“It’s very rewarding giving people money,” said Cathy Fitzgerald, chief of DOR’s Citizens Services Bureau.

Adams, Byrnes and Davis, whose last known addresses were in Great Falls, are on the list.

Folks whose names are published are owed at least $50, but maybe much more.

Just last week, a bank turned over an account to the DOR because it had not been used for five years. The balance was $107,000.

About 10 claims a year top $10,000, Fitzgerald said.

“We get a big response, and we are bound by law to do it,” Scott Payton, a DOR tax examiner, said of the public outreach to find the rightful owners of unclaimed property.

Over the years, the DOR has accumulated 130,000 in unclaimed properties worth $63 million to $65 million.

The agency typically receives $7 million to $8 million in the span of a year, distributing about half of that after tracking down the owners.

Between 5,000 and 6,000 claims are approved a year, Fitzgerald said.

Businesses report unclaimed property to the state. DOR also conducts unclaimed property audits.

“We bring it in,” said Payton, who conducts unclaimed property audits.

“We give it away,” said Fitzgerald of the Citizens Services Bureau.

The DOR’s unclaimed property can be all kinds of stuff — work checks, money left behind in bank accounts, checks from insurance companies or the state of Montana, stocks, bonds or mineral rights royalties.

“That’s becoming really big with the explosion of mineral production,” Payton said of unclaimed mineral rights royalties.

Each year, $1.2 million in checks issued by the state of Montana are not cashed, Payton said. Those checks come from a variety of sources. Many are tax refunds. Some are refunds issued by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to hunters who paid to have their names put into a lottery for a special hunting license but didn’t get picked.

One gentleman has been issued 70 checks by the state that have never been cashed, Payton said

Unclaimed property also can be physical items kept in safe deposit boxes, such as rare coins, cash, art and stocks and bonds.

Fitzgerald offered an example of how property can end up unclaimed and in the possession of the DOR: A person moves. Their work paycheck is mailed to an old address. The business that issued the check turns it over to the state in trust. The state holds the property indefinitely.

“About every business is going to have unclaimed property,” Payton said.

For example, any business that issues checks to customers, or has a large payroll, will have a check that isn’t cashed at some point, he said.

DOR’s unclaimed property does not include real estate or motor vehicles, which is handled by counties.

Once a year, the DOR makes an attempt to find the owners of property that’s been unclaimed within the past year by publishing the names of the people in newspapers.

But efforts to connect people with unclaimed property continue year-round.

In April 2013, the department, in an effort to track down more people, created an online search on its website called “click for cash” that people can check anytime they want. The system also reduced the turnaround time for processing claims, Fitzgerald said.

And in 2007, the agency began cross referencing information on the property with tax records. If there’s a hit, the DOR sends a letter to the owner. Today, about 20 percent of the claims the DOR approves are a result of that cross referencing, Fitzgerald said.

“The more awareness, the more money we can give back, and that’s what were here to do,” Fitzgerald said.

Mary Ann Dunwell, a DOR spokeswoman, encourages Montanans to check out the list of names in the insert.

It’s Dunwell’s job to say that.

But she speaks from experience.

After names were published in the Helena Independent-Record, Dunwell received a telephone call from a friend. She had seen Dunwell’s name on the list of people with unclaimed property.

“Lo and behold, I had $97 from a previous medical insurance provider,” Dunwell said.

It turns out that Dunwell had overpaid on a premium.

“That’s kind of nice with Christmas coming,” Dunwell said.

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Karl Puckett at 406-791-1471, 1-800-438-6600 or kpuckett@greatallstribune

.com. Twitter: @GFTrib_KPuckett.

Click for cash,or check insert

To see if you are on the Department of Revenue’s unclaimed property list, check the section inserted in today’s Tribune. Also, the DOR’s new software application “Click for Cash” at www.revenue.mt.gov makes it possible for people to go online to claim their money, track the status of a claim or have cash deposited directly into their bank account.