Reno man gets huge check from Unclaimed Property

A Reno retiree was presented with a check for $52,146 on Tuesday from the state’s Unclaimed Property fund.

Stewart Nelson said he and his business partner Michael Levitt knew they had some money in the state’s coffers.

“We knew we had something but we had no idea it was this big,” said Nelson.

It all started more than 40 years ago when his mother died, leaving him 64 shares of AT&T stock. He said over time, it split repeatedly and grew in value. In addition, there was a bond he purchased and forgot about that, through the years, grew from $4,000 to $18,000 in value.

Over time, all the pieces of the puzzle were transferred to Unclaimed Property.

Levitt said the two, who have lived in Reno nearly 26 years, retired and shut down their computer business.

As part of the retirement process, he said they finally decided to clean up some “loose ends” in their finances — including checking out that Unclaimed Property.

Treasurer Dan Schwartz said the state has millions in Unclaimed Property it has not been able to return to the rightful owners. While many of the items are small in value, Nelson’s case proves some are quite valuable.

He said he’s working to beef up efforts to find the owners of the property turned over to the state by banks, corporations and other businesses.

Schwartz encouraged people to look on the office’s website to see if they have money or other property to claim. The site is nevadatreasurer.gov and the Unclaimed Property search tab is clearly labeled.