South Carolina Unclaimed Property Program (Office of the State Treasurer)
Agency directory page. Legal information, not legal advice. Last verified: 2026-06-02.
Agency
South Carolina’s administrator is the Unclaimed Property Program of the South Carolina Office of the State Treasurer (its outreach brand is Palmetto Payback). It holds dormant intangible property — including unclaimed surplus reported from foreclosure and tax-sale distributions — for owners, estates, and heirs.
Official claim portal
- Program page: https://treasurer.sc.gov/what-we-do/for-citizens/unclaimed-property-program/ (retrieved 2026-06-02).
- Search and file: https://southcarolina.findyourunclaimedproperty.com/ (retrieved 2026-06-02), with claim search at https://southcarolina.findyourunclaimedproperty.com/app/claim-search.
Searching and claiming are free. Contact: 803-737-4771, unclaimed@sto.sc.gov. The Treasurer warns owners to verify with the Program before signing any fee agreement with a third-party finder.
How surplus escheats here
Unclaimed foreclosure/tax-sale surplus in south-carolina not claimed from the disbursing party is reported and remitted to the Office of the State Treasurer’s Unclaimed Property Program under the custodial model in escheat-and-unclaimed-property. South Carolina’s Uniform Unclaimed Property Act governs dormancy and reporting. (Source: SC Office of the State Treasurer, https://treasurer.sc.gov/what-we-do/for-citizens/unclaimed-property-program/, retrieved 2026-06-02; statutory cite: S.C. Code §§ 27-18-10 et seq. — needs_verification for the exact general dormancy period.)
The taking is custodial; binding pre-escheat deadlines sit upstream at the clerk/court and appear on the south-carolina page (Module 3).
Claiming
Search by name on the portal, open a matched claim, and submit proof of identity and ownership. Heirs claim through estate documentation. No fee.
▸ For Former Owners. Search the SC Treasurer’s site (treasurer.sc.gov / Palmetto Payback) by your name — surplus from your foreclosed property may be held by the state, free to claim and not time-barred. Verify with the Program before paying any finder.
▸ For Investors / Operators. Unclaimed surplus escheats to the state Treasurer fund (custodial), not a county forfeiture pool — a later owner claim does not cloud acquired title or revive redemption. Confirm the clerk/court surplus clock on the south-carolina page.
Sources
- {agency, https://treasurer.sc.gov/what-we-do/for-citizens/unclaimed-property-program/, retrieved 2026-06-02} — SC Office of the State Treasurer, Unclaimed Property Program / Palmetto Payback; free; finder warning.
- {portal, https://southcarolina.findyourunclaimedproperty.com/, retrieved 2026-06-02} — official SC unclaimed-property search.
- {internal, concepts/escheat-and-unclaimed-property.md, read 2026-06-02} — custodial-taking framework.
Disclaimer. Legal information, not legal advice. Verify the agency URL and S.C. Code Title 27 Ch. 18 dormancy provisions against the current official site before acting. Nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship.