Treasurer McCord: You Don’t Have To Be a Super Hero To Claim What’s Yours

With the latest Batman about to begin filming in Pittsburgh, Treasurer McCord highlights “Gotham City” namesakes in unclaimed property database

HARRISBURG, PA – June 8, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The Steel City will become Gotham City when filming for “The Dark Knight Rises” begins this summer in Pittsburgh. To welcome Batman to the Commonwealth, State Treasurer Rob McCord today highlighted Pennsylvanians in Treasury’s unclaimed property database with names straight out of Gotham.

“There are a number of people with last names like ‘Batman’ and ‘Wayne’ in our database, but it doesn’t take a super power to find out if you have unclaimed property waiting for you, too,” Treasurer McCord said. “Treasury makes it free and simple to claim what’s yours via patreasury.org.”
A quick search of Treasury’s online database reveals that the following Batman character namesakes are owed unclaimed property:

Over 30 listings with the last name “Batman”
More than 30 listings with the first initial “B” and last name “Wayne”
Over 80 results for the name Stephanie Brown, the current Batgirl
About 50 listings with the name James Gordon, Gotham City’s Police Commissioner
Ten business or individuals with “Gotham” in the name

There is even a person in Treasury’s database with a name similar to one of Bruce Wayne’s love interests – Victoria Vail of Harrisburg. The Treasury Return Team wants to reunite Victoria with her unclaimed property.

If you don’t share a name with the Caped Crusader or one of his associates, fear not – there is still a good chance you have unclaimed property owed to you. Treasurer McCord said Treasury estimates that about 1 in 10 Pennsylvanians might have something waiting to be claimed.

Under Pennsylvania’s unclaimed property law, Treasury each year receives millions of dollars in unclaimed property – things like checking accounts, stocks, dividends, uncashed checks, certificates of deposit, credit balances, utility refunds, and items abandoned in safe deposit boxes.

Treasurer McCord said that Treasury’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property is an example of a “good government” program in action. Since January 2009, the McCord Treasury has returned about $200 million in unclaimed property to approximately 150,000 rightful owners. The program also generated $115 million in net revenue for Pennsylvania’s General Fund in fiscal year 2009-10, or more than three times the amount appropriated to fund Treasury’s general government operations.

To learn more or to search the free unclaimed property database, to visit www.patreasury.org or call 1-800-222-2046, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
CONTACT:
Elizabeth Foose
717-787-2991