ATLANTA — Hundreds of thousands of Georgians may soon get checks in the mail after a bill for unclaimed property passed on Friday.
Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray has been following Senate Bill 403 since it was first introduced.
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Georgia has $3.3 billion in unclaimed property. The bill changes state law to requirement the Department of Revenue to proactively match tax records with unclaimed property records.
Checks would then be sent out to people for properties under $500.
“What it’s going to do is make it much easier for people to know that they have unclaimed property by matching it with the tax records and making the process much more streamlined and automated and less of a hassle,” State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, who sponsored the bill, previously told Gray.
The bill passed unanimously in the Senate, but was stalled in the Georgia House. Representatives raised concerns over a provision that would allow the state to keep money that remains unclaimed and make it state property.
After debate, the bill passed on Friday and only contains the provision requiring automatic payments.
“SB 403 would implement an exact match program, making it easier for Georgians to recover the money they are entitled to,” State Rep. Matt Reeves said. “We encourage Georgians to visit the Georgia Department of Revenue’s website to search for and claim unclaimed funds, such as old utility deposits and other amounts owed to them.”
It has been sent back to the State Senate to approve amendments made by the Georgia House before it can go to governor’s desk.
In 2024, the Department of Revenue made it easier for Georgians to search for unclaimed property in response to a Channel 2 Action News Investigation. In Georgia, you could not search for claims under $50.
After Channel 2 Action News started asking questions, the website was changed to allow searches for unclaimed money under $50 and even under $5.
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