CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- At a time when many are struggling to pay their bills, state officials are trying to help by giving you some of your money back.
Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs said his office may have some of your money at a time where it could really come in handy.
"People's lives have been turned upside-down. We don't fault them for not thinking about unclaimed property at the top of their minds, but if they are looking for extra money, they have time right now, we encourage them to go to illinoistreasurer.gov," Frerichs said.
That is where Frerichs said Illinoisans can simply enter their names and learn if they have money sitting in business or bank accounts, such as unclaimed checks, benefits, or dividends. You no longer have to claim the property in person.
Frerichs said it’s referred to as “unclaimed property.”
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“If a business or a bank is holding onto money that belongs to an Illinois citizen, they’ve held it for three or five years, we will go collect that money,” Frerichs said. “We then work very hard to return it to our constituents.”
Last year, the unclaimed property return from the Illinois Treasurer's Office was just over $1,000. With over 26,000 claims coming in since the COVID-19 pandemic, Frerichs expects that average to skyrocket this year.
Over the last two months, the majority of treasurer’s office employees have been working from home, and Frerichs said they’ve been busy.
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“Since then, we’ve returned over $28 million to Illinois citizens. We’ve processed 26,000 claims and about 18,000 of those have been done through our Fast Track program," he said. "It does a lot more good for our economy circulating throughout then it does sitting in a bank account."
To find out if you have unclaimed property, visit illinoistreasurer.gov.