Who couldn’t use some extra cash? There are billions of dollars of unclaimed property out there waiting for their rightful owners. It could be an old paycheck, stock note, or inheritance that’s owed to you.
If your government, utility company, credit card company, insurance company, bank, credit union, or pension plan owes you money and you do not collect it, then it’s deemed “unclaimed.”
States estimate that one in every 10 people has unclaimed money waiting for them. The State of New York alone has over $14 billion in lost money just waiting for the rightful owners to claim their money. One person in Missouri was paid $6.1 million in unclaimed property.
Many state’s unclaimed property law requires corporations, businesses, associations, financial institutions, and insurance companies to annually report and deliver property to the state’s controller’s office after there has been no activity on the account or contact with the owner for a period of time specified in the law.
The U.S. government does not have a central website to find unclaimed money by name, their social security number, or by state. To find unclaimed money, check a number of sources listed below. If your name pops up, follow the instructions to claim your money.
1. Search by State – perform a multi-state or individual state search
2. Search for back wages – do you think you may be owed back wages from your employer because they violated the labor laws? When the US Department of Labor finds labor law violations, they often recover unpaid wages on behalf of employees.
3. Pensions from former employers – Search for unclaimed pension money from companies that went out of business or ended a defined plan.
4. Bank Failures, Credit Union Failures , SEC Claims Funds – Search these database for unclaimed funds from failed financial institutions or where a person or company owes you money
Happy hunting for money!