Unclaimed Property Returned at Record Pace in W. Va.

West Virginia Treasurer John Perdue says the state is returning unclaimed property at a record clip.

Perdue says in a news release that the treasurer’s office’s paid out more than $14 million in more than 8,000 claims through March. The record for a fiscal year, which ends in June, is $15.4 million paid out in 2008-09.

Perdue’s office says it plans to publish newspaper inserts over the next three weeks listing about 15,000 names of unclaimed property owners.

Perdue says the spike in claims this year is due to life insurance settlements and reciprocal agreements with unclaimed property offices in other states.

Perdue has returned more than $173 million to property owners since 1997.