More than 66,000 residents were in line to receive up to $5,000 for unclaimed property, state officials said.
State Treasurer Michael Frerichs proposed and worked with the General Assembly to create enhancements to the Money Match Program, which uses existing state records and technology to automatically return lost money to qualifying Illinois residents without the need to gather paperwork or file a claim, a statement from his office said.
One of the enhancements included increasing the automatic payment cap to $5,000.
The enhanced Money Match Program uses data already collected by the state and crossmatches it with the treasurer’s unclaimed property database, according to the statement.
When a matching name and mailing address is identified and confirmed, the unclaimed property owner will receive a letter from the treasurer’s office that describes the amount and source of the money.
Initial money match letters will be mailed this month to about 66,700 individuals, according to the treasurer’s office, and $47 million is expected to be returned.
“Our economy is growing, but we know there still are challenges,” Frerichs said in the statement. “This money will offer a cushion for some, and for others it will help with back-to-school expenses and making rent.”
