Marking National Unclaimed Property Day, the New Jersey Department of the Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Administration (UPA) announced a $3.9 million contribution to help provide assistance to low and moderate income New Jersey households struggling to pay their utility bills.

Each year, the contribution is presented to the Affordable Housing Alliance (AHA) for the Payment Assistance for Gas and electric (PAGE) program.

“As we get through winter, it is especially important for households to be able to keep their lights on and their heat running,” State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio said in a statement.

As previously reported by TLS, nearly 33 million people in the United States has unclaimed property: financial accounts or items of value in which the owner has not initiated any activity for a number of years.

When that happens, and the company cannot locate the owner, the money or properties are submitted to the state.

Common examples include unpaid life insurance benefits, forgotten bank accounts, utility deposits, and unused rebate cards.

In New Jersey alone, in 2022, more than 224,000 new assets were reported to the State that are now waiting to be returned to the public.

In total, UPA is currently safeguarding assets worth a combined $5.9 billion that are currently waiting to be claimed.

Treasury encourages all New Jersey citizens to search https://www.unclaimedproperty.nj.gov/ or www.unclaimed.org/ to determine if a state is holding their property. Individuals are encouraged to search their name, a maiden name, or the name of a business or nonprofit.

The search is free.

Under State statute, all funds received in unclaimed property deposits from electric and gas utilities are deposited into the Unclaimed Utility Deposits Trust Fund.

Each year, 75 percent of those deposits received are issued to a statewide non-profit energy assistance organization designated by the Board of Public Utilities.