Before you pay for that lottery ticket in hopes of winning some extra cash, check to see if your name is under the New York State unclaimed funds list.
New York is currently holding over $10 billion in unclaimed funds, or money that, for protection, banks, insurance companies, utilities, investment companies and many other businesses are required by State law to surrender inactive accounts to the State. These accounts are known as “lost,” “abandoned,” or “unclaimed” funds.
Recently, the state has been successful in giving back money to rightful owners, mainly because of an online filing system that makes the process quicker and easier.
State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s Office of Unclaimed Funds (OUF) received 14,982 claims submitted online last month, making January 2011 the most successful month since the inception of the online filing system in March 2010. To date, 111,403 claims amounting to more than $29 million dollars have been filed online.
The online process has generated more than three million visitors performing more than 24 million searches to the site in the last 11 months – an average of 10,000 visitors a day and 300 claims submitted daily.
“During these tough times every dime counts,” DiNapoli said.” Our new system has made it easier and faster for New Yorkers to get their money back. New York is holding $10.5 billion in unclaimed fund accounts. This is money that belongs to New Yorkers and we want to make it as easy as possible to return their funds to them.”
If you can prove you are entitled to the money, the office returns it to you, at any time, without charge. Until the money is claimed, it is used by the State’s General Funds, serving the citizens and taxpayers of New York, according to an office spokesperson.
The web application helps the majority of abandoned property owners claim their funds online in just six easy steps. It reduces the time for paying most claims submitted online to as little as three business days. Some claims still require a mail-in claim form, such as claims for estates, companies or those that require additional documentation. DiNapoli said he estimates the savings in staff time from the online process will equal 12 full time staff annually.
Pursuant to the State’s Abandoned Property Law, the comptroller’s office acts as custodian of abandoned property and is responsible for processing claims on behalf of the rightful owners. Unclaimed funds include abandoned accounts, financial instruments or policies that banks, corporations and other entities are required to turn over to the state after they have been dormant for a set period of time.
For more information and to check if you are owed unclaimed funds, visit the Comptroller’s website at www.osc.state.ny.us.
