New York State Owes Residents $18.4 Billion, You May Have A Claim

New York State has $18.4 billion of residents' money. You might be owed, here's how to claim your share. The New York State Comptroller's Office holds onto lost and unclaimed funds. Every day the state returns $1.5 million to people who file claims. So far this year $41,846,811 has been returned to New Yorkers.

The New York State Comptroller's Office unclaimed funds branch will be live onsite at an event this month:

February 14, 2024
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Black History Month Celebration Empire State Plaza - South Concourse,
Albany, NY

February 17, 2024
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
53rd Annual Legislative Conference of the
New York State Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislators, Inc.
Empire State Plaza, Concourse, Albany, NY

February 23 - 25, 2024
2:00 pm - 7:30 pm
36th Annual Suburban Home Show
SUNY Rockland Field House,
145 College Road, Suffern, NY

Does New York State Owe You Money?

The state collects the monies from other entities and holds on to them until they are claimed. That's where you come in. It's up to you to file a claim so that New York State doesn't keep your money.

Lost or unclaimed money gets turned over by organizations required to report dormant accounts to the New York State Office of the State Comptroller. This money includes things like forgotten savings accounts, lost paychecks, and stocks or bonds.

Each day, the state returns $1.5 million in lost funds. There are 49 million account records that remain unclaimed. Between April 2022 and March 2023, $406 million was paid out to New Yorkers and 690,000 claims were processed.

The payout may not be huge as 70% of claims provide less than $100. But if the money belongs to you it should be in your hands, not New York State's bank account. You can file a claim for free to collect any money owed to you.

One New York resident received a check for $5.2 million in lost money from stocks. The largest unclaimed amount is $9.2 million from an estate and it is still unclaimed! In 2023, New York State returned $5.9 million to heirs from estate proceeds. There is NO FEE to claim your funds.

Interest is paid for five years on interest bearing accounts—currently it’s 6%

Here's a breakdown of where the funds came from during that period:

Utilities - 1%
Dealers/Brokers - 2%
Court Funds - 5%
Other - 14%
Corporations - 19%
Insurance Companies - 22%
Banks - 37%

New York State warns about scammers trying to pose as state officials to defraud people with unclaimed money schemes,

Beware of people who pretend to be the government and offer to send you unclaimed money in exchange for a fee or the exchange of confidential personal information. This practice is called phishing – a criminal activity using various techniques to trick you into providing personal or financial information through an email request or through a link to a fraudulent Web site.

 

Here's how to find out if New York has your lost money:

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