25,000 Utahns can cash in on unclaimed list

Even wealthy people can use some extra cash — like WordPerfect founders Raymond Noorda and Bruce Bastian.

Those are just two of the 25,000 Utahns who are on the new Utah state treasurer's unclaimed property list, now out.

Noorda and Bastion likely have more money than they need. But they and all the other lucky Utahns on the list (contained in a 48-page insert in the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune on Wednesday and at up.utah.gov) can find out what is waiting for them, and how they can claim it, by calling the state's Unclaimed Property Division at 801-320-5360.

The Deseret News tried to call that number several times Thursday, but it was always busy. So if your name is on the list, you may have to be patient.

Unclaimed property comes in various forms, most often financial instruments like lost paychecks, deposits of various types (like on a utility bill), small amounts left in a savings account or checking account and forgotten. No real property, like a house, is in the unclaimed property process.

It is not the job of the Unclaimed Property Division to recognize names on the list and try to contact those individuals, although staffers do look through the list to see if they know any of the lucky Utahns.

That informal vetting can lead to the listing of some fairly well-known people — whose unclaimed property comes from some logical places.

Take Randy Dryer, for example.

A well-known local attorney, Dryer's unclaimed property address is the president's office at the University of Utah. Dryer is the chairman of the U.'s board of trustees, the citizen group that oversees all U. operations.

"Really, I have some money?" said an excited Dryer when notified by the newspaper Thursday. "I saw that thick stuffer in the newspaper — (headlined "Go Ahead, Make My Day") — but I didn't look at it. I didn't think I was owed anything.

"I have no idea what it could be, other than my per-meeting check I get for serving on the (U.'s) board. But I just routinely give that check back to the U. as a donation."

Dryer said this must be his lucky week. A few days ago he got an IRS refund check from the federal government for $1.14. "I'm going to frame that one, it isn't worth cashing. Maybe this (state unclaimed property) will be more. But how could the University of Utah's (president's office) not know who I am?"

Also on the list is state Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman. "I'm the only Carl Wimmer in the state, as far as I know," said Wimmer when notified by the newspaper.