State Treasurer’s John Perdue is readying another unclaimed property bulletin for statewide insertion into newspapers, beginning Sept. 21 and ending Oct. 5.

Insertion dates are Sept. 21, Sept. 28 and Oct. 5. Some copies are direct mailed to homes.

Each year, the Treasurer’s Office publishes two inserts of approximately 15,000 rightful owners of unclaimed property, with the hope someone will see his or her name and file a claim for the financial asset.

Often, family and friends apprise the owner. “Word of mouth is important,” the Treasurer said. “We encourage anyone who sees a friend or family member’s name to spread the good news.”

In all cases, the owner has three options: file a paper claim contained in the publication; contact the office at 1-800-642-8687; or go to www.wvtreasury.com and file an electronic claim. Two forms of official identification are the starting point for filing a claim.

“Our inserts are a wonderful way of spreading the word that we are holding assets for vast numbers of West Virginians, money that has fallen through the cracks in some way and been separated from rightful owners,” the Treasurer said. “We want people reunited with their money.”

Unclaimed property is any financial asset from which an individual has become separated. Examples include an abandoned safe deposit box; a forgotten utility deposit; or uncashed stock dividends. Unclaimed property has nothing to do with real estate.

By law, holders of unclaimed property, such as a bank or insurance company, are obligated to report and surrender the asset to the state Treasury. To date, Treasurer Perdue has returned $168 million to owners during his historic six-term tenure as the state’s financial officer.