Clark County residents urged to check for unclaimed funds from old court business

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Clark County residents have more than $20,000 in unclaimed funds sitting at Clark County Clerk of Court’s office.

The unclaimed funds are leftover from cases filed with the Common Pleas Court between January and December 2018, Clark County Clerk of Court Melissa Tuttle said. Court cases include things like divorces and foreclosures.

“All of this is money that has been refunded from court costs from initial filing fees,” Tuttle said.

The sheet of 27 names includes residents, attorneys and one publication. Check amounts range from $1.50 to $5,811.89 — bringing the list’s total to $22,247.11. Those on the list are not directly notified about the outstanding check.

According to the Ohio Department of Commerce’s website, Ohio has over $2.4 billion in, “missing money waiting to be returned to Ohioans.”

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Tuttle said the interesting thing about this year’s unclaimed funds is that the amount of checks is less than last year, but the value of the checks is significantly different.

“So even though last year we had 28 names, there was only $11,483 left unclaimed,” Tuttle said. “While this year we have only one less name, but double the money.”

Last year, Tuttle said, all $11,483 was turned over to the Clark County Treasurer’s Office. Residents have until February 10, to claim this year’s money.

“No one claimed any of last year’s money,” Tuttle said.

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Unclaimed money turned over to the Clark County Treasurer’s Office isn’t put towards anything, Tuttle said. Instead, the money simply just sits there.

“It goes from sitting on our checkbook to sitting on theirs,” Tuttle said.

That means that residents who had unclaimed funds in the past, can still claim access to that money, Tuttle said.

“It’s not forever lost. Five years, 10 years, whatever years, you can still get that money back,” Tuttle said. “It’s just more convenient the quicker you get it done.”

Those interested in viewing the complete list of unclaimed funds can do so at Clark County Clerk of Court’s office. If your name is on the list, all you have to do is fill out a short form in the office, Tuttle said.

“You just fill out a form and we re-issue the check,” Tuttle said.

If residents are interested to see if they have unclaimed funds from previous years, they can do so by visiting the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Unclaimed Funds’ website.

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