U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) have introduced the Unclaimed Savings Bond Act of 2021 to help Americans claim more than $26 billion in unredeemed savings bonds. The bipartisan bill would require the U.S. Treasury to provide states information about matured and unclaimed bonds so these states can use unclaimed property programs to help find the original owners (or heirs of those original owners) of these bonds. This provision would only apply to unredeemed bonds that matured before 2018.
Young
“Treasury currently holds billions of dollars in unclaimed savings bonds that have been forgotten or lost. This money belongs to the people,” Sen. Young said. “Our Unclaimed Savings Bond Act would help Americans identify and access their unclaimed savings bonds. I appreciate Indiana Treasurer of State Kelly Mitchell’s support as we work to help Americans get funds that are rightfully theirs.”
Estimates indicate that $478 million in unclaimed savings bonds belong to Hoosiers. Many of these bonds were issued more than 70 years ago and have matured – meaning they no longer earn interest for bondholders. In cases in which bonds are not physically possessed by their rightful holders, only the Treasury has the names and addresses of the original bond owners. The Treasury also has the serial numbers needed to claim the bond proceeds.
Senators Young and Kennedy were joined by U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and James Risch (R-Idaho) to introduce this legislation.
Click here to read the Unclaimed Savings Bond Act of 2021.