Welcome to the Vermont State Treasurer's Office Unclaimed Property web site. We hope this site will answer many of your questions about unclaimed property. The primary function of the Unclaimed Property Division is to locate and return various forms of unclaimed property to the rightful owners.

Search Now for Unclaimed Property!

You may search by last name or town. There are more than 220,000 claimable properties in the database. The total number of unclaimed financial property is more than $56 million.

What is Unclaimed Property?

Unclaimed property includes items such as forgotten bank accounts, uncashed pay checks, and unclaimed security deposits. It's most often in the form of money, but it can also be stocks, mutual funds, and the contents of safe deposit boxes. The property comes from many sources--called holders--such as banks, credit union, corporations, utilities, insurance agencies, retailers, and governmental agencies throughout the United States. The Vermont State Treasurer's Office acts as custodian to safeguard the assets until they can be claimed by the rightful owners or their heirs.

How much financial property has been returned?

The Treasurer's Office has increased it outreach effort for unclaimed property through additional advertising and other activities, including enhancements to this web site. These efforts are proving successful. The amount of money paid to Vermonters in fiscal year 2011 was more than $4.2 million through 11,766 individual claims. The average claim paid was $362. Here are some recent statistics.

Reclaiming your property is a free service!

Please take a moment and search our web site and see if we have unclaimed property for you. this is a free service. If you have comments or suggestions, please click the "How to Contact Us" button on the right side of this page. You also may send the division an email at unclaimed.property@state.vt.us . We're also available by phone at (802) 828-2407, or toll-free in Vermont at 1-800-642-3191. Our staff will be happy to assist you.

Express claim service helps you get your money faster.

Going into its fifth year, the express claim initiative remains one of the most positive programs in the Unclaimed Property Division. Within five working days of receiving a claim, the express claim program will pay the original owners of property totaling $200 or less.

Avoid Being Scammed!

Beware of "helpful" offers from companies that will charge you to recover financial property that is rightfully yours. There is NEVER a charge to claim your money through the State Treasurer's web site. National searches for unclaimed property are also free through the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrator's endorsed web site: MissingMoney.com.

Vermont law forbids businesses known as asset locators from charging more than 10 percent of the value of the unclaimed property for their services. The law further requires that asset locators post a bond of at least $10,000 with the Treasurer's office and send the office a copy of any agreement or contract along with a notarized "notice to claimant" form.

Bottom-line: before paying anyone to locate your property, contact the State Treasurer's Office first. 

Some guidelines to follow to avoid being scammed are:

• Know who the company is you are dealing with. If you have never heard of the business or person with whom you intend to do business, learn more about them. You might check with the Better Business Bureau, visit the business location, or consult with your bank or credit union, an attorney, or the police.
• Make sure you fully understand any business agreement proposed to you before starting any process or signing anything.
• Be careful of businesses that operate out of post office boxes or mail drops or that do not have a street address.
• Be wary of business deals that require you to sign non-disclosure or non-circumvention agreements that are designed to prevent you from independently verifying the identity of the people you are considering doing business with.

The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators also urges people to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov You also may file a complaint through the Vermont Attorney General's Consumer Assistance Program by sending an email to: consumercomplaint@atg.state.vt.us or calling 1-800-649-2424.