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Making the Most of Unclaimed Property in Pennsylvania

Locate unclaimed property in PA to use in your business

By Emmet McMahan
Making the most of unclaimed property in Pennsylvania will require you to determine the holder of the property. Cities and counties may serve as custodians of unclaimed property until certain criteria are met. At that time, custodianship of the property is then turned over to the state. This allows claimants to search for their property in a central location.

Unclaimed property in Pennsylvania can be an inexpensive way to obtain business equipment as companies frequently lose property through misfortune or carelessness. The appropriate agency will require specific forms and procedures in order to approve your claim on the property. Unclaimed property generally falls into one of the following categories:

1. Liquid assets such as uncashed checks, a bank account or the contents of a safe deposit box.

2. PA abandoned property that the original owner is unlikely to claim. This is commonly a wrecked vehicle or real estate with delinquent taxes but may also include a treasure trove. Property owners usually have a superior claim to a treasure trove than a trespasser who discovers the property.

3. PA state unclaimed property that is confiscated by law enforcement. This is frequently the result of a drug or tax seizure.

 

Find agencies that handle state of Pennsylvania unclaimed property

Start at the state level if you are looking for property that belongs to a specific person and work down.
Try: The Pennsylvania Treasury Department has a database of unclaimed property that you can search by name. cashunclaimed.com provides specific information on unclaimed money in Pennsylvania and also provides a search by name.

Learn more about the laws regarding Pennsylvania state unclaimed property

Each state has laws regarding the disposition of unclaimed property. These laws should specify the conditions that allow the state to assume custodianship of the property and any conditions that allow the property to revert to the state.
Try: Wolf, Baldwin & Associates in Pottstown provides an analysis of the laws on unclaimed property in Pennsylvania. McNees Wallace & Nurick practices tax law in Pennsylvania and issues a newsletter that discusses the Pennsylvania Disposition of Abandoned and Unclaimed Property Act.

Buy a vehicle in a PA unclaimed property auction

Look at the various auctions that occur regularly throughout Pennsylvania if you are interested in bidding on a car. Vehicles are typically the mainstays of unclaimed property auctions and consist of abandoned vehicles, vehicles seized by law enforcement and surplus vehicles.
Try: The Philadelphia Parking Authority auctions abandoned vehicles on a regular basis. The Pittsburgh Department of Finance holds scheduled auctions of abandoned vehicles twice each month.

 

  • The process of turning over unclaimed property in Pennsylvania to the state is called escheatment and legal documents may therefore refer to the property as escheat. Pennsylvania businesses usually encounter escheat in the form of an unclaimed pay check and are generally required to make a good faith effort to find the owner.

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