METAIRIE – State Treasurer John M. Schroder, who is a candidate for governor, presided over his office’s May 13 unclaimed property event at Lakeside Shopping Center, where he said a record-breaking $904,000 was returned to Louisiana citizens.
“This was an incredible day for the Louisiana Treasury team to be able to return this kind of money to the people of greater New Orleans,” said Schroder in a news release. “At three o’clock, when the event was supposed to be over, we still had a line of people spanning the entire length of the mall from the center court to the end of the mall.”
The Department of Treasury said the most that it had ever been given back in a single-day event was $420,000, which was the amount returned during the 2022 Lakeside Shopping Center mall event.
Treasury said there is more than $1 billion in the program and $300 million is owed to residents in the greater New Orleans area. The funds come from businesses that turn over millions of dollars in unclaimed cash, stocks, bonds, securities and insurance proceeds to the Treasurer’s office. These funds include payroll checks, old bank accounts, royalties, utility deposits, interest payments, stock certificates and life insurance proceeds. The department said one in six Louisianans has unclaimed property, with claims averaging $900. One of the main reasons an item becomes unclaimed property is because of an incorrect or old address.
To check for unclaimed property, go to LaCashClaim.org.
