Unclaimed Property

[Kennywood]

May I make a suggestion? Using your favorite search engine, look up your state's "Unclaimed Property" web site.

Enter your name, names of family & friends, etc. Chances are, your state might be holding money that belongs to you or someone you know.

Want to score proverbial Brownie points? Look up the name of the company for which you work. If the state has money belonging to them, let your company's accounting office know. (Yeah, chances are they'll take full credit, but you never know.)

We could all use a little extra money. It's worth a little time & effort.

 

[Moliphino]

I got my $5 check from my state a few weeks ago. Big bucks here.

 

[tvguy]

Been through that process. My issue isn't with recovering the money, its with the circumstances under which it was deemed unclaimed. I had a Credit Union close my account and send the money to the state because "the account had been inactive for two years". I called the Credit Union and they pulled up the archived account and couldn't figure out how that was determined as I was making $100 deposits to the account EVERY month for the past two years.

 

[john7994]

Most interesting thing I did all day …

 

[china mom]

I am the PR for four estates (3 closed and one active) and I regularly run them through unclaimed property. I got $17 back for Mom's estate a few years ago

Recently, I ran my recently deceased brother and his name popped up (it had not on any of the previous times I ran him) Under address, it just had my mother's name.

I filled out all of the paperwork and was denied because "it wasn't him". I called and spoke to a very helpful woman who told be that brother's Soc Sec# didn't match. I had an epiphany and gave her Dad's SS# (same name). Bingo. It was a deferred comp account of my mother's (died in 2017) with Dad as the beneficiary (died in 1999).

Unclaimed property does not tell you how much money it is. You have to wait until the check to find out. I said this could be anything form $10 to $10M if it was a deferred comp account accruing interest since prior to 1999.

The check came. It was $130. But it was fun being a millionaire for a while until the check came.

 

[Kennywood]

Some states do not disclose the amounts. Some will say whether or not the amount is above or below $100.00. Other states will tell you exactly the amount that the state is holding.

A cousin of mine let me know about money the state held that belonged to my late dad. Since he had died, the money was claimed on behalf of my mom. It was over $1000.00, so it really came in handy.

I've looked up the names of friends and family. They've been surprised when they found out that they had any money being held by the state.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Been through that process. My issue isn't with recovering the money, its with the circumstances under which it was deemed unclaimed. I had a Credit Union close my account and send the money to the state because "the account had been inactive for two years". I called the Credit Union and they pulled up the archived account and couldn't figure out how that was determined as I was making $100 deposits to the account EVERY month for the past two years.

While it's always possible that an error was made by your CU, some states do not consider automated drafts to be client-initiated activity. A lot also comes down to the holder's (i.e. your CU) interpretation and implementation of the state's UP statutes, which are often vague and favor the states. UP is a major revenue stream for the states and holders are subject to fines and penalties if they don't properly interpret these statutes. So, there's a lot of pressure on the holders to get it right.

When you spoke to your CU, were they able to get you in touch with someone that handles UP or was it general customer service? A lot of the time, customer service isn't very well versed on UP matters. You may also want to see if your old mail had some kind of letter from the CU. Assuming your address information on file was correct, they should have sent you some kind of correspondence to alert you to the issue before anything was turned over.

 

[tvguy]

While it's always possible that an error was made by your CU, some states do not consider automated drafts to be client-initiated activity. A lot also comes down to the holder's (i.e. your CU) interpretation and implementation of the state's UP statutes, which are often vague and favor the states. UP is a major revenue stream for the states and holders are subject to fines and penalties if they don't properly interpret these statutes. So, there's a lot of pressure on the holders to get it right.

When you spoke to your CU, were they able to get you in touch with someone that handles UP or was it general customer service? A lot of the time, customer service isn't very well versed on UP matters. You may also want to see if your old mail had some kind of letter from the CU. Assuming your address information on file was correct, they should have sent you some kind of correspondence to alert you to the issue before anything was turned over.

No automated drafts, these were all checks I deposited in the branch in person. Didn't matter whether I talked to someone who does unclaimed property because it had already been closed out and it can't be reversed. That Credit Union is defunct now. Only notice I got was a letter saying the money had been turned over to the state and there was nothing the CU could do.
Now, my current credit union has a different process and I got a letter, an e-mail and a phone call saying my account was in jeopardy of being turned in as Unclaimed Property. And they had a specific phone number for me to call. I called and the lady said that is all I had to do to prevent it from being sent to the state. But she did check my account for activity and didn't understand why the computer had flagged it as inactive as it clearly showed lots of in person withdrawals. That account is my home repair emergency fund and I had just six months before pulled out $13,000 when I had to replace my HVAC.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I remember getting about 7 dollars a couple years ago…. Better than nothing!

 

[nw6675]

I posted this a few years ago, too, because I got around $400ish from two previous states.

Both were unrelated utility co-ops.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

No automated drafts, these were all checks I deposited in the branch in person. Didn't matter whether I talked to someone who does unclaimed property because it had already been closed out and it can't be reversed. That Credit Union is defunct now. Only notice I got was a letter saying the money had been turned over to the state and there was nothing the CU could do.
Now, my current credit union has a different process and I got a letter, an e-mail and a phone call saying my account was in jeopardy of being turned in as Unclaimed Property. And they had a specific phone number for me to call. I called and the lady said that is all I had to do to prevent it from being sent to the state. But she did check my account for activity and didn't understand why the computer had flagged it as inactive as it clearly showed lots of in person withdrawals. That account is my home repair emergency fund and I had just six months before pulled out $13,000 when I had to replace my HVAC.

The states require some kind of due diligence letter before turning over proceeds, so I wonder if they weren’t complying with required practices. I’ve been working in UP for about 10 years but we’re not a banking institution, so our statutes are a bit different. Still, if you were depositing checks in person on a regular basis, it sounds like something wasn’t right on the CU’s end. Hopefully it was with a state with easier reunification processes. Some are easy while others make you jump through a bunch of hoops. Still a real pain.

 

[tvguy]

The states require some kind of due diligence letter before turning over proceeds, so I wonder if they weren’t complying with required practices. I’ve been working in UP for about 10 years but we’re not a banking institution, so our statutes are a bit different. Still, if you were depositing checks in person on a regular basis, it sounds like something wasn’t right on the CU’s end. Hopefully it was with a state with easier reunification processes. Some are easy while others make you jump through a bunch of hoops. Still a real pain.

Yes, I got my money eventually. Thankfully I didn't have an emergency as that is what that account was and still is for.

 

[NYCgrrl]

As the executrix of the man’s estate I’ve regularly “trolled” the websites of various states’ unclaimed property. NYS and Fl paid off the funds located in 4 to 6 weeks which I consider reasonable.

KY and and a SS account administered by Cormerica (sp?)Bank were and remain a source of irritation. The Social Security account took in excess of a year to be paid and required legal threats. I’m about to go “ballistic“ on the offices of the Kentucky Secretary of State with their slow as molasses folksy just here serving the people’s nonsense. Too much time and effort to collect a measly sum but gosh are they motivating me to put my

garb on just for the fun of it.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I think there’s something like $84 for Dh dad. It’s a different state than ours. They sent us the paperwork and it’s like 14 pages long.
Dh said forget it.

 

[china mom]

For Mon's $130, instead of a check, I got a letter stating that I had not filed taxes on behalf of her estate and they were keeping the money and applying it to unpaid taxes. I did file and pay her taxes but I am not going through the hassle of pulling out the boxes, finding proof and arguing for the $130. Half of it would have gone to my brother and he agreed... not worth it.

 

[Jaya]

Just be careful what "service" you use. Some are not part of the state government and may require money from you to search. Some are just there to get your information.