COLUMBUS, Ohio— Ohio has become more aggressive than any other state in seizing privately owned unclaimed funds, even as many states are moving to automatically return money to their owners, an analysis has found.
Under a controversial new Ohio law currently being challenged in court, the state of Ohio is taking ownership of $1 billion in assets that have sat in the state’s $4.8 billion Unclaimed Property Fund for more than 10 years.
Additionally, starting in 2036, any unclaimed funds held by the state for more than 10 years will automatically, and permanently, revert to the state.
The money will go to fund sports stadiums and cultural facilities – particularly, a $600 million subsidy for a new Cleveland Browns stadium in suburban Brook Park.
Ohio is one of only five states that permanently seize privately-owned unclaimed funds if the owners don’t proactively ask for it within a certain amount of time, according to a 2025 memo from the nonpartisan Ohio Legislative Service Commission.
And the four other states that have such laws – Arizona, Hawaii, Indiana, and Rhode Island – allow more time for people to retrieve their money or only permit the state to seize small amounts of unclaimed funds.
Indiana law allows unclaimed funds to be claimed within 25 years of the money being sent to the state. For Arizona, it’s 35 years. Rhode Island and Hawaii, meanwhile, allow the state to keep money held for more than 10 years – but only for unclaimed funds worth a maximum of $50 and $100, respectively.
At the other extreme, at least 23 states have, in recent years, sent out unclaimed fund checks proactively, without their owners needing to file a claim: Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois,
Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Earlier this week, the Georgia General Assembly passed a similar law that, if signed by Gov. Brian Kemp, would automatically return any unclaimed funds of up to $500 when state officials can identify their owners.
Most of those states only send checks up to a certain dollar amount, such as $500 or $1,000.
Not everyone in those states is eager to proactively return money: New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said last year that he wants to “slow roll” automatic returns out of concern that it could lead to fraud and that checks could be sent to the wrong addresses.
Like every other state, Ohio has long operated an unclaimed‑property fund, into which banks, insurers, and other businesses must transfer dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, safe‑deposit box contents, insurance policies, and other customer assets that aren’t claimed within a certain amount of time.
The rationale behind such funds is that they relieve businesses of the burden of having to track down the owners of the money, and they make it easier for residents to find their money by putting it all in a single, central repository.
At the same time, unclaimed funds accounts also serve as a cash cow for many states. While most states allow people to file for unclaimed funds indefinitely, in the meantime many states hold the money in their general revenue fund or in interest-bearing accounts, according to Ron Lizzi, a Connecticut-based unclaimed funds watchdog who has pushed states around the country to return more unclaimed money to its owners.
Even before the Ohio General Assembly voted last year to permanently raid the state’s Unclaimed Property Fund on an ongoing basis for stadiums and cultural facilities, lawmakers over the years diverted about $1.3 billion from the fund, according to a memo from the nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission.
Most of that money went to the state’s general revenue fund, according to the memo, but some of it was used for things like job development, helping local governments after the state’s sales tax on Medicaid managed care organizations was abolished, and special projects.
The idea to permanently divert unclaimed funds to the state after 10 years came from Ohio Senate Republicans, who inserted the measure in last year’s state budget as a way for the state to provide $600 million toward a new Browns stadium, and future stadium projects, without having to go into debt or dip into general revenue funding.
“I think it’s very creative,” said Ohio Senate Finance Committee Chair Jerry Cirino, a Lake County Republican, while unveiling the proposal last June. “This is money that is sitting idle, and we’d like to put it to work.”
Georgia lawmakers, while debating the legislation to automatically send unclaimed-funds checks, were urged by the Georgia Department of Revenue to also allow the state to take ownership, or “escheat,” unclaimed funds after the state holds them for five years (when the total amount is less than $10) and 25 years for greater amounts.
But that language was removed by the Georgia House before the bill passed. Georgia state Rep. Deborah Silcox, a Republican from suburban Atlanta, said during a legislative committee hearing on the bill that she was concerned about the government taking people’s private property.
But Silcox also pointed to lawsuits filed against Ohio’s new law. While those suits are still pending, a Franklin County court last month blocked the state from transferring $1 billion in unclaimed funds until the case goes to trial early next year.
“I just think we may be subjecting the state to a lot of litigation,” she said
Published: Apr. 05, 2026, 5:30 a.m.
By Jeremy Pelzer, cleveland.com