ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill into law making it easier for the state to give Georgians back billions in unclaimed property.
Georgia has $3.3 billion in unclaimed property. The new law requires 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.
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Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray has been following Senate Bill 403 since it was first introduced.
The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and was briefly stalled in the House. Some state representatives wanted to have more discussions about a provision that would allow the state to keep money that remains unclaimed and make it state property.
After debate, the bill passed, only containing 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.”
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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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