Amidst Cookie Sales and Scout Week Activities, PA Treasurer McCord Highlights Nearly $40,000 in Unclaimed Funds Owed to Scout Groups

Treasurer encourages scout troops and councils to search patreasury.gov

Harrisburg – January 27, 2014 – (RealEstateRama) — Girl Scout Cookies are for sale and Boy Scout Week is approaching, so State Treasurer Rob McCord today took the opportunity to remind troops across the Commonwealth of a potential source of revenue they might not have known about – Treasury’s unclaimed property program – by highlighting nearly $40,000 in lost or forgotten funds his department holds for scout groups.

“This is a busy time of year for young Pennsylvanians who participate in scouting – Girl Scout cookies are on sale and Boy Scout Week is drawing near,” Treasurer McCord said. “Both of these activities help to strengthen scout troops, both financially as well as culturally. It is in this spirit that I want to remind leaders that their troops may have lost or forgotten funds waiting for them at the Pennsylvania Treasury. While not as delicious as a Thin Mint or a Tagalong, unclaimed property is an equally important potential revenue source.”

Treasurer McCord’s Return Team identified nearly $40,000 in unclaimed financial assets owed to Girl or Boy Scout troops, councils, camps or other related organizations. The Treasurer encouraged scout organizations to visit www.patreasury.gov, where they can search the free online database and initiate a claim, or call Treasury’s Return Team at 1-800-222-2046, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The property the Treasurer highlighted today is only a fraction of the $2.2 billion in unclaimed property Treasury is now working to return to people, businesses, nonprofits, local governments, and community organizations, among other groups.

Treasurer McCord stressed that people and organizations usually do not know they are owed property because “holders,” or entities that hold property owed to others, are not required under state law to contact the owner before remitting it to Treasury. As a result, Treasury each year receives millions of dollars in unclaimed property in the form of abandoned bank accounts, forgotten stocks, uncashed checks, and contents of safe deposit boxes.

Since January 2009, the McCord Treasury has collected more than $1.1 billion in property, returned more than $517 million to rightful owners, and generated about $616 million for the state’s General Fund through the Unclaimed Property Program.

To learn more about Pennsylvania’s Unclaimed Property Program or to search for property, visit www.patreasury.gov or call 1-800-222-2046.

Media contact: Elizabeth Foose, 717-787-2991 or