Ohio residents say they’re waiting months longer than expected for unclaimed funds as the state reports nearly 41,000 pending claims.
But lately, his sea of orange and brown has been tinged with a touch of gray as he’s been left waiting nine months for his unclaimed funds case to be processed by the state.
“It said it would take 120 days,” Klever said.
He first filed his claim back in September on behalf of his son who passed away. A document shows Klever was first told the process would take up to four months.
Mary and Mark Butler told 10 Investigates they were promised the same thing.
“We were told it would be at least 120 days, which is OK,” Mary said.
When 10TV interviewed them two weeks ago, they’d been waiting for almost a year. “It’s frustrating. We probably spoke with five different people and received five different
responses,” Mary said.
10 Investigates took everyone’s concerns to the Ohio Department of Commerce, which oversees the Division of Unclaimed Funds.
A spokesperson for the division released the following statement:
For individual claims, we are limited in what we can share.
Generally speaking, though, claims are processed in the order in which they are received. Upon clicking submit on the online form on our website to start their claim, claimants will get an email from OHUnclaimedFunds@com.ohio.gov. This email will let them know if their claim is approved and is being processed for payment, or it will provide them with their claim form, which lists the required documentation the Division needs them to upload to our website in order for us to complete their claim. Documentation needed to verify ownership will vary by claim type, but all claims receive the same attention to detail during review. Our support team is available at 614-466-4433 if claimants have a question about required documentation.
If they have provided the documentation for their claim, they can rest assured that it’s in our queue. While claimants will receive another email either requesting additional documentation or notifying them their claim will be approved for payment, they can also check the status of their claim anytime at unclaimedfunds.ohio.gov/app/claim-statussearch.
As you may know, this has been a historically busy time for the Division due to media attention paid to Unclaimed Funds. In fact, over the past year the number of claims submitted has grown by about 50% in the last year alone. As a result of this increased attention, we currently have 40,975 claims in the queue. One of the steps we have taken in response is to add additional staff to our team; however, we are actively exploring additional avenues we might take to process these claims more quickly. We appreciate Ohioans’ patience as we work to process these claims as quickly and accurately as possible.
It’s important to note that we’re not only receiving more claims submitted to the Division, we’re also returning more to Ohioans than ever before. So far this fiscal year, $129,778,542.85 has been returned to claimants. In addition, the Division has already paid out more than 181,593 claims this fiscal year, which is 164% more claims than in paid out in all of FY 2025.
And this isn’t the only issue the unclaimed funds division is dealing with. They’re also in the middle of a legal fight, after state lawmakers asked them to take $1 billion from their account to improve sports facilities in the state.
Of that money, $600 million was then supposed to be put aside to build a new stadium for the Cleveland Browns, but a Franklin County judge has put a pause on that plan.
10 Investigates asked the Butlers and Klever how they felt about that decision “If they’re going to use the funds (for a new stadium), yeah, they could find a better use. But the right use, of course, is to give it back to the people,” Mary said.
“Are you guys also (Cincinnati) Bengals fans? Is that it as well?” asked 10 Investigates Reporter Rochelle Alleyne.
“We love Ohio. We love Ohio teams, but we don’t think that Ohio folks should have to pay for that stadium,” Mary said.
“They need to put a winning team on the field first and worry about the stadium later,” Klever said.
Shortly after 10 Investigates emailed the state about these issues, the Butlers finally got their case processed, but Klever is still waiting.
10TV also asked the Division of Unclaimed Funds several times for more information on what other things it is doing to address this problem, but haven’t gotten an answer at this time.
Author: Rochelle Alleyne
Published: 6:51 PM EDT June 25, 2026
Updated: 12:40 PM EDT June 26, 2026