New York may be holding free money for you. It sounds too good to be true, but it's not. Read below to find out if you have free money waiting for you.
Unclaimed Property is money owed to people and companies that gets turned over to New York when companies can't find people to pay it back. For example, if you move and you don't tell your utility company your new address, they don't know where to send your refund check. In this case they would turn the money over to New York as Unclaimed Property. New York would then hold it until you come and claim it. Some states take the money after a certain number of years, while some hold unclaimed funds indefinitely.
Here's the important thing - you could have free money waiting for you!
Total Unclaimed Funds
Sixteen Billion Dollars
State Population
19,453,561
Average Claim Size
$4,240 to $8,480
Claims Paid Per Year
Four Hundred Million dollars
According to this May 2021 Democrat and Chronicle article, the State of New York is holding over Sixteen Billion Dollars in unclaimed funds.
Over Nineteen Million people live in New York, so that means New York is holding over $848 per resident! Not every resident has unclaimed funds, so that means the average claim is much higher. Usually 1 in 5 to 1 in 10 people have unclaimed assets waiting for them, which would make New York's average claim between $4,240 and $8,480.
In just 2021, New York returned an astounding Four Hundred Million dollars to people with unclaimed money and property.
Some common examples of unclaimed propert include:.
Many times people forget they have accounts open with companies, or move companies that owe them money can't find their new address. For example, electric companies, natural gas companies, phone companies, and others often owe people money when they move, but can't find the person's new address to send them a check. After a certain time period the company must turn that money over the the state, and the state holds it until the owner comes to claim it. Approximately 1 out of every 10 people in the US have unclaimed money waiting for them, they just have to claim it.
See the table below for how many people and businesses in cities in New York have free money waiting for them. Currently we have records for money held in New York, but we'll add more states soon. Click on the city name to see detailed information about unclaimed property in that city.
see more cities Check for Unclaimed Funds
You can search for and and claim unclaimed assets on the New York's official webste.
Here's how to do it:
Claiming funds using the New York Unclaimed Funds state website can be a bit tricky. Follow the instructions below to see if you have unclaimed money owed to you and to see how to claim it.
To start your search, head on over to https://ouf.osc.state.ny.us and click the "Search Now" button.
On the search page, enter your first name and last name. You may want to try just your last name and your first initial, or just your last name to see if you have any unclaimed property where the reporting company mispelled or cut off your name. If you own or work for a company, you can search by company or organization name as well.
The search results will show any unclaimed property ready for you to claim. To start your claim, click the "+ Claim" button.
Step 1 of the "submit your claim" process will ask you to confirm that you own the unclaimed property case. Press "Next" to confirm and move to the next step.
Step 2 of the "submit your claim" process presents a notification you must agree to. Some important points:
Enter your Social Security Number to complete step 3. This allows the State of New York to verify your identity matches that of the unclaimed property case.
Enter your contact information, including your current address (do not use a past address). You must provide an email so the state can update you on your case's progress.
Step 7 asks you to review and attest that the information you provided is correct and accurate. Click the "Submit" button to submit your claim.
One of two things will happen:
Here's the screen looks like if you need to mail in your form:
If you see the screen above, click the "Mail-in Claim Form" link and follow the prompts to fill your claim form.
One you've followed the prompts you'll reach a screen like the one below. At this point click the "Print and Mail Claim Form" button, this will create a PDF that you need to print out and mail in the state, along with the required documentation.
IMPORTANT NOTARIZATION NOTE: New York requires that you get the form notarized. A number of online notary services exist, such as Notarize.com, and many banks, such as Wells Fargo and Chase offer free notary services to customers.
Here's the bullet point on the claim form where it requires you to notarize the form:
https://www.osc.state.ny.us/files/unclaimed-funds/claimants/pdf/blank-claim.pdf
Back to State List Check for Unclaimed Funds
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