Virginians owed money receive more than 14,000 notices: Virginia Department of Treasury

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Virginians should expect to see mailing notices that they have money coming, as the Department of the Treasury has billions of dollars in unclaimed property belonging to residents.

As a result, within the past seven weeks, they have sent out more than 14,000 notices to thousands of Virginians who are owed money and mailed at least $2.5 million in unclaimed money to Virginians this week.

According to Bradley Earl, the director of the Division of Unclaimed Property, the department is automatically sending out thousands of checks for unclaimed money.

The Virginia General Assembly has approved new legislation to establish the new "VA Cash Now" program, which, according to the department, requires the state to return unclaimed property to the rightful owner, so that they don't need to file a claim.

The treasury said that businesses and nonprofit organizations will need to manually file a claim.

The department said that with the "VA Cash Now" program, they can return single-owner properties valued at up to $5,000. This is so long as the verified taxpayer and address details match the unclaimed property database, according to Earl.

The first batch of letters, which consisted of about 2,000 notices, was sent out on May 1, for about 14,000 notices total as of June 12, according to Earl.

They reportedly began sending out notices in May, and continue to send more every week.

The treasury said one should expect the checks within 45 days.

To claim your unclaimed property, click here.