The state returned more than $50 million in unclaimed property and cash the first five months of this year.
That’s a 6.8 percent increase over the same period in 2012 and puts Illinois on track to beat last year’s record of $129 million.
One in eight Illinois residents has an asset – like a forgotten bank account or unknown insurance payout- to be claimed from the state’s I-Cash program.
Through the site, anyone can search their name, maiden name or even the names of deceased relatives, to find if they are entitled to any of the roughly $1.7 billion the state has collected from banks, insurance claims and safety deposits or other sources,
There are 100,000 items being held in the state treasurers vault, some of the most interesting including: family photos, war medals and Michael Jordan baseball cards.
“If I had my way and it was perfect peace on earth, I would return 1.7 billion dollars,” said Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford, whose office oversees the program.
The I-Cash staff of about 47 employees and five interns looks for those who are owed money by publishing names in the newspaper twice a year, holding I-Cash events that allow residents to search the database and ask questions, and holding direct online auctions, said Rutherford.
The next I-Cash event will be an online auction held in July.
In 2010, the first year that Rutherford was treasurer the state returned $101 million through I-Cash – $8 million more than the year before.
It’s taking about five to six weeks for someone to get a check once a claim has been submitted, said Rutherford, who encourages people to check for their name frequently as the database is updated weekly.
“I searched about two months ago, found nothing; searched last week, and I have something,” said Rutherford, who will be claiming the $97 he found last week.