New Jersey man locates $40,000 in ‘unclaimed funds’ for diocese, parishes

CNA Staff, Jul 15, 2024 / 14:55 pm

A New Jersey resident is being hailed for identifying tens of thousands of dollars in “unclaimed funds” from the state government and helping that money get back to the Diocese of Camden and local parishes. 

Philip Britton, who lives in the western part of the state in the township of Pennsville, was searching the website of the state’s Unclaimed Property Administration, which allows New Jerseyites to obtain “abandoned or lost intangible and tangible property” obtained by the government.

While looking, Britton told the Catholic Star Herald that he “found unclaimed property listed for a local parish, which merged in 2010, and a local Catholic school that had closed in 2000,” the Catholic newspaper reported.

Britton told CNA on Monday that he began searching the online database after his housekeeper asked him to look through it.

“I’m old and I don’t move too well,” he said via phone. “I do play with the computer since I’ve been retired. And my housekeeper asked me to look up if she had any unclaimed property” on the state website.

“I found a few listings, gave them to her, and helped her process those,” he said. “And then I started looking some more. I came across Queen of the Apostles, the parish I used to go to in Pennsville. Then I came across multiple other institutions.”

“Everybody has unclaimed money!” he said with a laugh.

He continued reviewing the records, he said, eventually identifying about $40,000 in unclaimed property and informing the Camden Diocese of his findings. He has since reached out to the other Catholic dioceses in New Jersey to let them know of the state service.

Diocese of Camden spokesman Michael Walsh told CNA in a statement on Monday that Britton’s “initiative to look up unclaimed property for his parish and then the diocese at large was another great example of Christian service.”

“Especially since the diocesan Catholic Charities office was one of the largest benefactors of this process,” Walsh said. “The monies found for Catholic Charities will be used specifically to help those in need throughout South Jersey.”

“His act is also a great reminder to any individual and business to investigate the NJ.gov unclaimed property website,” Walsh added.

A CNA review of unclaimed properties associated with Catholic entities and corporations in New Jersey revealed dozens more unclaimed property parcels, including property belonging to “Catholic Charities,” “Catholic Teachers Union,” and “Catholic Views Broadcast,” among others.

Residents of every state are able to search public databases in order to see if they have any unclaimed property being held by the state.

Each state “maintains a database of unclaimed property for that state, and — by law — attempts to return the property to its rightful owners,” according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.

Diocesan chief financial officer Laura Montgomery told the Star Herald that she has “sent emails to all of the parishes, schools, and business managers [in the Camden Diocese] urging them to visit the Department of the Treasury site to see if there are any claims for their locations.”

The process took roughly a month for the check to arrive, Montgomery said. 

“Do exactly what I did: Go to the site and search by your name, your family’s names and see if there’s anything they are holding for you,” she said. 

Britton, meanwhile, said more people should know about the unclaimed property databases they can access.

“It’s amazing the organizations, societies, doctors, everyone that has money out there that they’re not aware of at all,” he told CNA. “I’m kind of on this evangelization kick telling everybody about it I can.”

“It makes me feel good that I did something,” he continued. “It’s mentally stimulating. It keeps my brain active. And, hey, nobody else is doing it. So why not me?”