Great Colorado Payback returns $100 million to claimants, shattering annual record
The Great Colorado Payback has returned $100 million to claimants with two months remaining in the fiscal year, Colorado State Treasurer Dave Young announced Thursday, surpassing the $80 million record set in fiscal year 2024-25.
The Colorado State Treasury said it is also mailing $5 million in preapproved unclaimed-property checks directly to residents, with more than 6,000 claims cleared through streamlined verification. Eligible claimants will receive the checks in the coming days and can cash them immediately without additional documentation.
© flickrcc - Jonathan Cutrer
“Returning $100 million is a historic victory for the Treasury and the State,” said Treasurer Young. “This achievement is only possible with the dedication and relentless work of our staff, who have blown past all previous records. Every dollar returned makes a difference, and we are not stopping here—we are actively mailing out $5 million in checks to Coloradans right now.”
The program has resolved 60,000 claims since July 1, 2025, a pace consistent with the previous year. Bianca Gardelli, director of the Unclaimed Property Division, credited the gains to new outreach strategies.
“Our mission is simple: reunite owners with their funds as quickly as possible,” Gardelli said. “We’re constantly finding new ways to reach claimants and make the claims process faster and easier.”
Since 2020, the Great Colorado Payback has returned $441 million. The program has returned nearly $900 million since its founding in 1987 and currently holds about $2.3 billion in unclaimed property owed to more than 17 million individuals and entities.
Even after this record year, the Treasury notes that Colorado still holds over $2 billion in unclaimed property.
An estimated one in ten Coloradans has unclaimed property held by the state. Companies transfer millions in assets to the Colorado Department of the Treasury each year when they cannot locate the original owners, including individuals, companies, nonprofits and schools.
Residents can search for unclaimed property at unclaimedproperty.colorado.gov or at colorado.findyourunclaimedproperty.com.
