Request Items
Unclaimed Property
Financial records concerning unclaimed, uncashed, undeliverable, and/or outstanding funds or obligations due back to non-individuals (businesses), including any and all: • Checks or warrants issued for payments on obligations incurred by any state agency, department, office, or other authorized authority that have remained outstanding. • Amounts on deposit that are held in trust for recipients whose whereabouts are unknown, including instances in which payment was never attempted, payment was never requested, and/or instances when payments were returned as undeliverable. Such payments may relate to (but are not limited to) tax refunds/overages/refunds, overpayments, vendor payments, cash deposits, cash escrows, and unsuccessful electronic fund transfers. Criteria: • Amount is greater than $999.99; • Payee retains the right to claim the funds (i.e. The payment has not been replaced, was not issued in error, and/or the obligation to the payee has not been voided by law.); • Is owed/payable to a business (companies, corporations, partnerships, etc.; we are not interested in payments owed to individuals or government entities); • Has remained outstanding for a period of six months or longer; • Are not in the process of being reissued, to the best of your knowledge; and • Has not been turned over to your State’s Abandoned Property Office. Requested Data Columns: • Owner name (Required); • Amount (Required); • Original payment date (Required); • Check number; • Address; • Nature of the funds (i.e. vendor payment, property tax refund, etc.); and • If tax-related: o Name of the taxpayer and/or intended recipient; o Account number or property index number (PIN); and o Tax year; tax installment date; original tax payment date
Rejected
Information concerning stale checks issued by the State, but not escheated to the State, is exempt from disclosure under WV-FOIA, pursuant to W.Va. Code §12-3-1(d), which states as follows: Any information or records maintained by the treasurer concerning any check not presented for payment within six months of the date of issuance is confidential and exempt from disclosure under the provisions of article one, chapter twenty-nine-b of this code, and is disclosable only to the state spending unit authorizing the check, or to the payee, his or her personal representative, next of kin or attorney-at-law. Stale State checks escheat to Unclaimed Property after six months, according to W.Va. Code §12-3-1(b): The treasurer shall credit the money that has been in the stale check account for six months, or for a shorter period as determined by the treasurer, to the unclaimed property fund pursuant to the provisions of article eight, chapter thirty-six of this code, and shall immediately notify the auditor to make corresponding entries on the auditor's books.