(COLORADO) — The Colorado State Treasurer’s Office will be sending email notifications through the end of the year, reminding Coloradans who have unclaimed property with the Treasurer’s office.

“If you get an email notification from the Department [of the Treasury] alerting you to unclaimed property in your name, visit colorado.findyourunclaimedproperty.com and click the ‘get started’ button,” said Bianca Gardelli, Director of Unclaimed Property.

According to the Treasurer’s Office, in the last fiscal year, The Great Colorado Payback returned almost $50 million to nearly 55,000 claimants through the Unclaimed Property Division. To simplify the claims process, a program which proactively returns funds was started, returning $4.1 million to 13,700 rightful owners without requiring additional paperwork for identification purposes. The average claim last year was $1,832. 

The Treasurer’s Office explained how property gets to be unclaimed, which can happen when businesses lose track of property and payments, occasionally resulting in unclaimed property which can be claimed. Corporations, municipalities, schools, nonprofits, hospitals, and small businesses are also listed among the many individuals whose assets are in the possession of the State. 

Money or property turned over to the State Treasury for safekeeping is held for the owner or heir of the account and there are no time limits for filing a claim. The Colorado State Treasurer currently maintains a list of over 1.7 million names of individuals as well as schools for whom property is available, including over $960 million in cold, hard cash. To date, the Great Colorado Payback has reunited over $670 million to their rightful owners or heirs.

Go to colorado.findyourunclaimedproperty.com to search for unclaimed property for individuals, nonprofits, and businesses.

If you received an email from the Department of the Treasury, it is indeed a real email, and you should read it carefully before deciding what to do next.

“Yes – these are real emails. Yes – we want to give you money,” said Dave Young, Colorado State Treasurer and former President of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. “We use many different ways to let folks know they have money or property waiting to be claimed. Emails are just one of the ways we notify rightful owners or heirs.”