An upgrade to a state government-maintained list of dormant assets like unclaimed checks and forgotten bank accounts will allow Connecticut residents to search for inactive property of any value, State Treasurer Shawn Wooden announced Tuesday. 

Any Connecticut resident who has forgotten to cash an insurance check or lost track of a savings account for more than three years has likely had those assets turned over to the state. While unclaimed, those assets make millions in revenue for Connecticut each year. 

The treasurer’s office maintains a searchable database of that property, called the CTBiglist, which residents can use to identify their unclaimed assets but until recently, the search would only reveal property valued at $50 or more. According to Wooden’s office, residents can now search for property of any value that has an associated name and address.

“Connecticut residents can now look up their unclaimed property of any value at one cent or greater on CTBigList.com and check the status of their claims online,” Wooden said in a Tuesday press release marking National Unclaimed Property Day.

The change follows a CT Mirror story in early January, reporting that the state had collected more than $40 million in unclaimed property which was valued at less than $50 and therefore impossible to find on the CTBiglist site. The treasurer’s office charged the Mirror $200 for a data request with information more than five years old. 

According to Tuesday’s press release, the treasurer’s office was able to expand the functionality of the online system to show property of any value using “new cloud-based technology.” 

Wooden announced other upgrades to the system including expanding a “fast-track” program which allows residents whose property is valued at up to $1,000 to claim the assets in a matter of days. In July, that limit will expand to claims worth up to $2,500.

Another initiative eliminates the requirement that residents have their applications notarized in order to claim their property. 

“Ever since we upgraded our unclaimed property systems to paperless a year ago, it’s been a goal of mine to eliminate the burdensome step of having someone secure a notarization to file their claim,” Wooden said.