NEWARK, Ohio (WOWO) — An Ohio man has waited 13 months for a $6,000 unclaimed funds check, highlighting a backlog that state officials say they are trying to reduce after a public awareness campaign triggered a surge in claims.

William Klever told 10 Investigates he has been unable to get a clear answer about when he will receive the money. The Ohio Department of Commerce says the average claim can take up to 120 days to process.
Klever filed the claim on behalf of his son, who died years ago. In July, the department sent him a letter requiring him to go to court within 60 days to establish that his claim to the funds was legitimate. Klever said he submitted all the required court documents in August.

When he contacted the department last week to confirm his paperwork was complete, he said a representative told him another step remained but would not explain what the process involved.

“She said there was one more process that they had to go through. She would not tell me what that process was,” Klever told 10 Investigates.

He said the lack of information has left him frustrated and questioning how the state communicates with people waiting for money they are owed.

“They are part of our government, you know, for the people, and they should be more transparent about their processes and what their shortages or problems are,” Klever said.

His frustration grew after he saw a state commercial featuring Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel encouraging Ohioans to check whether they have unclaimed money. The campaign was intended to help residents find funds held by the state, but Klever said the state should also be able to process the claims it encourages people to file.

“I think Jim Tressel is a great coach, and I think that he needs to go to the commerce department and coach them up on how to possibly speed up these claims and speed up the process,” Klever said.

Tressel’s office told 10 Investigates that the Ohio General Assembly required the Department of Commerce to launch a public awareness campaign about unclaimed funds. The lieutenant governor supported bringing attention to the program but is not involved in the division’s daily claims processing, his spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that the department continues working to process claims and return the money to its rightful owners, directing questions about the administration of the program to the Department of Commerce.

Akil Hardy, superintendent of the department’s Division of Unclaimed Funds, said the state’s effort to reach more residents produced a dramatic and unexpected increase in applications.

Before the campaign, the division typically saw about 1,500 claims initiated in a week. After the advertising push, Hardy said, the division received 82,000 claims in just two days.

“Where we previously were used to seeing about 1,500 claims initiated in a week, we saw 82,000 in two days,” Hardy told 10 Investigates.

The state has since made changes to its approval process, hired 20 additional employees and automated part of its system to help manage the volume of claims and work through the backlog.

Hardy said some claims still require additional review to ensure payments go to the correct people. That scrutiny can add time to the process, particularly when a claim involves circumstances requiring additional documentation or legal proof.

“Ultimately we want to pay out (to) the right person. It would be a way worse story to actually be paying out the wrong people,” Hardy said.

Unclaimed funds can include money that businesses and other holders are required to turn over to the state when they cannot locate the rightful owner. Ohio’s outreach campaign encourages residents to check whether money is being held in their names or for eligible family members.

For Klever, however, the state’s efforts to increase awareness have not resolved the problem of getting his own claim completed. He said the $6,000 is substantial enough that he cannot simply walk away from the process, despite the lengthy wait.

“If it was just a few dollars, I would probably let it go, but it’s a good amount of money,” he said.
The department says additional staffing, process changes and automation are intended to improve processing times, but Klever’s experience illustrates the uncertainty some claimants face while waiting for the state to complete its review.