You Might Have Money Waiting For You. No, Really.

This is going to sound completely like a scam, so feel free to ignore me in skepticism. I’d try to assure you by stating that I draw no benefit whatsoever from posting this information here (other than generating some website traffic, I suppose) but you’d probably dismiss that with well-founded skepticism also.

Nonetheless:

There is a website here that provides links to a bunch of state goverment sites for unclaimed property. To quote the FAQ from that site, “unclaimed property (sometimes referred to as abandoned) refers to accounts in financial institutions and companies that have had no activity generated or contact with the owner for one year or a longer period. Common forms of unclaimed property include savings or checking accounts, stocks, uncashed dividends or payroll checks, refunds, traveler’s checks, trust distributions, unredeemed money orders or gift certificates (in some states), insurance payments or refunds and life insurance policies, annuities, certificates of deposit, customer overpayments, utility security deposits, mineral royalty payments, and contents of safe deposit boxes.” In short, it’s money or other valuable stuff that has somehow become disconnected from its owner.

So what happens to unclaimed property? The laws vary from state to state, but generally the unclaimed property gets turned over to a state agency whose appointed task is to try to reunite the property with its owner. In many cases there is no charge for the return of the property; some states levy a clerical handling fee. All you have to do is file a claim, provide proof that the property is yours, and wait.

But, you say, how do I know about the property in the first place? That site I linked to above will tell you. Click it, click on your state; that will take you to your state government’s website for its unclaimed property agency. My state’s site lets you search a database for your name and see whether there is any unclaimed property in your name on record. If the search does turn up something, you can probably start the claim online, although you’ll probably have to mail in evidence to support your claim.

If this all sounds too fishy for you to even want to go to the first site–and it probably should sound that fishy–try googling “state of <whatever> unclaimed property” or something like that. Just make sure that you end up on your state government’s actual site, and not some site that wants you to pay them to do the search for you. (They exist. Some are legit, some aren’t. Regardless, there’s no reason that I know of to pay someone else to do the search and file the claim.) Or, if you’re extra cautious, you could just find your state government’s main site and start from there.

Odds are very good, of course, that you don’t have any unclaimed property, so really you’ve probably wasted your time reading this far into this highly suspicious-sounding tale. So yes, it’s probably not even worth your time to find the appropriate site and do the search.

Or maybe it is.

About two months ago I found out that I had unclaimed property in my state. It looks like what happened is that for some reason my address was mis-stated in a class-action settlement with a company whose stock I once held. I found the database entries, submitted a claim online, and provided proof of my identity and relevant mailing addresses via mail. I had to spend some time filing the claim and having the paperwork notarized, but other than the postage I didn’t pay anything to anyone.

Today a check for $1120 arrived.

Sure sounds like I’m trying to sell you a scam, doesn’t it? Well, the story ends here. I’m not asking for anything; I’m just blogging for my own amusement and maybe yours.

Good luck with your search.