CLEVELAND, Ohio – As Ohio’s unclaimed funds account has skyrocketed by 50% in just five years to near $5 billion, the state has scrapped one primary way used historically to reach out to Ohioans owed money.
The state this year quit paying to insert pages-thick listings of the names of people due money in local newspapers across the state.
Instead, the Ohio Department of Commerce is taking out ads in newspapers and elsewhere to direct people where to go online to find the listings.
This is being done under a 2019 law change as part of the state budget. Specifically, this line, which was not in the previous version of the law, now appears after the law that details the requirement for newspaper listings: “The notice may be published in print or electronic format.”
The reach of printed newspapers has dropped dramatically over the last several years, as more and more people turn to the internet to read their news.
Yet, the printed lists remained an easy tool for people to scan for their names and those of friends and relatives, argues Monica Nieporte, president and executive director of the Ohio News Media Association and AdOhio.
AdOhio helped coordinate the distribution of the newspaper inserts. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer were among those that published the lists each year.
“My concern is how many people are going to see that ad and then take the extra step to go to the portal and put in their name,” Nieporte said. “You have people who are kind of skeptical of things like that. They’re afraid of scams.”
The unclaimed funds pool is money turned over to the state by a variety of sources, from things like dormant checking or savings accounts, stocks or maybe even a final paycheck that never reached a departed worker.
The fund stood at $3.2 billion in 2020. It totals $4.8 billion now, as money has flowed in far more quickly than it has gone out. Last year, for example, the state received $528 million of new money, and paid out $149 million in claims.
The state returned nearly $150 million in unclaimed funds during the last fiscal year, ended June 30, 2024.Rich Exner, cleveland.com
The unclaimed funds account took on a higher profile this month after Ohio Senate leaders proposed tapping it to loan money – at low interest rates – to stadium projects across Ohio. This would include $600 million for the Browns’ proposed stadium in Brook Park.
It’s premature to know whether this publicity will increase the amount of money being sent to the rightful owners.
Franklin Freytag, a spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Commerce, said by email that even if all the proper paperwork is submitted, it can take four months before the initial review is completed, though some claims can be completed in days.
Freytag said $288,211 is being spent on newspaper ads this year, directing people to the department’s internet listing, versus $375,266 in 2024 for newspaper ads that included the listing of names.
Freytag, who declined interview requests and instead asked that questions from cleveland.com be emailed, said by email that the agency has not experienced a drop in applications for unclaimed funds.
As to the reason why the fund is growing so rapidly, Freytag attributed that to more holders of the money becoming aware that it needs to be turned over to the state.
“One of the main goals of this outreach is to help these businesses understand their legal responsibility to report unclaimed funds they may be holding, and help explain how they can report these funds,” Freytag said.
The county-by-county lists in pdf format can be found online at this link. These lists, however, are only from the past year and only for claims that exceed $50, Freytag said.
The searchable database at unclaimedfunds.ohio.gov includes all listings, with instructions of how to submit a claim.
