Investigating Your Unclaimed Property

If you are hoping to find some money, you may be able to find some of your own money that you lost or have completely forgotten about. I want to introduce you to the world of unclaimed property. My family moved from New York to Georgia seven years ago. After living here for five years I discovered that just about every state maintains a pool of unclaimed funds that in most cases reach into the millions of dollars. I shared my discovery with my wife and we went about searching the New York unclaimed funds database online. I found nothing in my name, but Sharon did. We submitted a claim and after several weeks the state treasury sent her a check for over $300. As it turned out, while Sharon had worked at Alexandria's in New York several years earlier, the company had issued stocks to its employees. My wife had moved into Nursing and had completely forgotten about her stocks. Luckily for her, the state has a collection and safekeeping system in place to protect people's lost and forgotten possessions. Consequently, after more than 20 years my wife was able to recover funds that she did not remember existed.

Has this caught your interest?

You might have put a security deposit down to have your utilities turned on and then moved out of that state without remembering to get your money back. You might have allowed an old bank account to become dormant. You might have left your last check at a former job, or forgot to get that stock certificate issued to you. In fact, there are several ways in which you could have had money coming to you that you forgot about and now it sits in a state's treasury gaining interest. That is not a bad thing, however. So jag your memory to see what you may have out there. But better yet, you do not need to remember. All you need to do is visit the respective state's website and start a search.

Some of the common properties that have been reported and remitted to states' treasuries include: dormant bank accounts, stocks, dividend or payroll checks, refunds, traveler's checks, money orders, insurance payments, customer overpayments, and utility security deposits. How do these get into state custody?

You will notice that I used the words "reported" and "remitted." Yes, states have a system in place that require holders of unclaimed property to report and deliver these properties to the respective state after these items have exhausted a presumptive abandonment period. For some items like wages, if left unclaimed for a year they are presumed abandoned and must be delivered to the state. The state in turn holds these in trust until YOU submit a claim. Go ahead and search!

After finding an item that appears to be yours you may submit a claim online. States have made the process really simple. They will make contact and you will be directed to submit proof that that property is yours. If you can establish undeniable proof then "Voila!" some funds will come your way.

There is one good thing to remember: the property is yours and you never have to pay to re-claim it. That brings me to one bit of advice - look out for those companies that say that they can help you recover your property - at a price. The states will never charge you and the process is really easy, so you can get your own property back on your own.

To find a state's searchable data, simply Google something like this: "Georgia unclaimed property." I have provided some links for you below.

Happy searching and God speed!

Sources & Links to States' Unclaimed Property Websites:

1. Alabama Unclaimed Property - http://www.treasury.state.al.us/up/UP_Search.asp

2. California Unclaimed Property - http://scoweb.sco.ca.gov/UCP/

3. DC Unclaimed Property - http://cfo.dc.gov/cfo/cwp/view,a,1326,q,590719,.asp

4. Florida Unclaimed Property -

http://www.fltreasurehunt.org/ControlServlet?ActionForm=GotoNewPublicSearch

5. Georgia Unclaimed Property - https://etax.dor.ga.gov/unclaimedproperty/main.aspx

6. North Carolina -

http://www.nctreasurer.com/dsthome/AdminServices/UnclaimedProperty/Search.htm

7. New York - http://www.osc.state.ny.us/ouf/index.htm