Local gets unclaimed money from Commerce

Recently, Minneota native Sara (Dovre) Wudali was talking to a neighbor in St. Paul when the conversation turned to unclaimed money available from the Minnesota Commerce Department.
The neighbor typed Sara's name and maiden name into the website and, although she didn't have unclaimed money owed to her, her mother's name (Rita Dovre) did pop up.
"I thought it might be a scam at first," Wudali admitted, "But then I checked into it more and found out it was for real."
Rita filled out the application form online and then had it notarized, as required, before mailing it to the proper address.
"It took about two months, but I got a check in the mail," Rita said, as her husband, Allan, displayed the receipt that showed the amount was $169.88.
Wudali also found a couple of other out-of-town relatives that had unclaimed money coming, too.
"Just for fun, I typed in Minneota," she said. "The Minneota Public School came up and showed it had two unclaimed amounts."
When Rita heard about this, she notified Superintendent Dan Deitte.
The MN Commerce Department Unclaimed Property Division website only reveals if the unclaimed amount is under $250, over $250, or if shares are unclaimed. The Minneota Public School, which has one unclaimed amount under $250 and the other over $250, is currently working on its application process.
The website explains that the Commerce Department office's top priority is reuniting the owners with their lost or misplaced property. This includes items such as bank accounts, contents of safe deposit boxes, wages, insurance benefits, security deposits, stock dividends and other funds that remain unclaimed for three years or more.To check to see if you have any unclaimed money, visit https://mn.gov/commerce/ and type your last and first names into the white boxes and click on "Search", then scroll down to the list of names of match the search. You can also refine your search to a certain city after you enter your name.