Is there any greater small joy in life than reaching into a coat pocket or opening a desk drawer and discovering a forgotten $5 bill? Heck, I'll settle for a few quarters hidden in-between sofa cushions. Well, I found the online equivalent, but instead of .25 cents here and $5 there, I discovered $55.00 owed to me I had long forgotten.
My state, California, has an Unclaimed Property Law (PDF) requiring "corporations, businesses, associations, financial institutions, and insurance companies to annually report and deliver property to the California State Controller's Office after there has been no activity on the account or contact with the owner for a period of time specified in the law, generally three years or more". In layperson's terms, this means states keep records and funds/non-monetary property owed to citizens from a variety of sources.In my case, I had forgotten a portion of an apartment rental security I was owed after I moved back from San Francisco to Los Angeles. And once I knew I had money/property to claim, I notified everyone else I knew to check their names and cross-reference the jobs/addresses referenced. You'll need to file a claim, and depending upon which state, you'll have to send in a form via snail mail or using an online submission form.
While most friends discovered modest amounts (all still worth claiming, especially when totaled up from multiple sources), one friend was owed tens of thousands of dollars from unclaimed freelance paychecks and a real estate sale; in total the claimed funds helped close a purchase of a new home (!). I had a few friends reward me for the tipoff in cupcakes (hint, hint).
There should be a search sites for all states (looks like Alabama's site is down), including California, Texas, Illinois, and New York.
You can easily find unclaimed fund databases specific to a state using the search terms "unclaimed+property+search+YOUR STATE HERE". Remember to check out states where you might have once lived or attended college, alongside using any variation of names you might have used (e.g. "Greg" and "Gregory"). Otherwise, try using MissingMoney.com.
Good luck, and hopefully you'll share your some happy findings here after searching.
(Image: Jason Rodway)
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I found nothing for myself, but I wanted to share the MA site: findmassmoney.com
Happy Searching!
I stopped by a tent that wast set up by New York at a local festival. You only needed the person's name, and I found nothing for myself or my parents, but some over paid property taxes for my grandmother!
Found money my college owed me from 3 years back. Thnx for the heads up!
Someone in my (small) town with my same proper name, but different middle intital & address, is owed money. Got me excited for a minute!
Found an owed paycheck! Now I'm obsessively searching everyone I know. Thanks for this!
For any Canadian's out there, the Bank of Canada holds unclaimed amounts for 30 years if under $1,000, for 40 years is over $1,000:
Bank of Canada Unclaimed Balances
I found some from a previous employer from 2011! Woo!
Yay! $50
None from me, but my mother in law has about $500 owed to her! Crazy!
Did this a couple of months ago in Texas and found a paycheck for $230! Unfortunately, Texas got to keep 2% of it, and it's really bizarre that my old employer didn't just pay me the paycheck in the first place because I had direct deposit...
Wow. So it looks like I'm owed money in NY and FL.
Found $18 for my father!
Found (property?) for my son.
I found $12 and my boyfriend has money owed to him from a 2009 employer! This sounds like a corny TV law add...but wow!
Whoa found hundreds for my cousin and uncle!
I found $70 from my old cable company, from my first apartment out of college. I moved out of there 5 years ago! This is great.
I found my brother some money, but sadly, none for me or anyone else in my huge extended family. :(
If you've changed your name, be sure to check in all states of residence under all names!
Found some money! Not sure how much. I have to fill out the paperwork and send it it. But any amount is still cool with me ;)
Wow! Just received a check for almost $700 from nearly 20 years ago. I would never have checked if I didn't read this website on a daily basis. Thanks Apartment Therapy!