Staff from the office of South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis, and Loftis, were at a local Lizard’s Thicket Wednesday morning. They were there to find money, unclaimed, to give it back to the owners.

Link to SC Treasurer’s Office unclaimed funds site

“It may be enough money to pay for a medicine prescription or technical school tuition,” said Loftis. He said he holds the events for the working people of South Carolina. “It’s their money and they deserve to get it back.” Loftis lives in West Columbia.

Sometimes the unclaimed money comes from an insurance policy, or it may be in an abandoned bank account that an heir is legally entitled to receive. Unclaimed money is held in a multitude of places. Two West Columbia sisters recently received $38,000 from an account their deceased parents once had.

There is more than $550 million due South Carolinians in unclaimed funds, said Loftis. He said some recipients the treasurer’s office has found become overwhelmed with emotion when they get news of money due to them. “It means a lot,” said Loftis. He sometimes hand delivers notification – door-to-door- of the money himself.

Wednesday morning, Loftis spoke to a man, who owns a landscaping company. They found money for the man, and their church. An 85-year-old woman also found out, at the Lizard’s Thicket, that she has some unclaimed funds.

Loftis, who was first elected treasurer in 2010, said his office has returned more money than all of the previous state’s treasurers combined.

Dayle DeLong, a senior assistant in the programs division of the treasurer’s office, was also on hand with Todd Taylor, another staffer. They both had a laptop computer keying in names for those looking.

Delong said an employee of the Lizard’s Thicket found about $500 Wednesday morning.

Loftis also said he was recently part of a negotiation with Wells Fargo bank to return a “tremendous sum of money.”

The unclaimed funds are found after big companies conduct an audit of their assets.