You could have money waiting for you in forgotten accounts

REGULAR folks leave money behind in forgotten cell phone accounts and insurance escrow — we all know that. But if you search in the pages here for your name and come up blank, don’t get sad. You can search your family and friends’ names and then move on to your fave celebrities. After all, wouldn’t they love a DM from you alerting them to some forgotten cash? That’s potential BFF stuff right there.

Especially since there’s still an amazing $15 billion in unclaimed funds in New York right now, according to New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

“My office has prioritized returning lost money to the rightful owners,” says DiNapoli. “We hand back more than $1.5 million a day to New Yorkers and last year we returned a record $460 million, but we want to do more. I encourage everyone to go to my Web site [OSC. State.NY.us] or call us and search for money that may be waiting for you. It’s your money, we want to give it back.”

Over 2 million people visit the State’s Web site every year. There are currently more than 37 million unclaimed funds accounts there, some dating back to the 1940s. Most people who are owed money can be found, with the majority of unclaimed funds stemming from old bank accounts as well as stocks, life insurance, uncashed checks and gift cards.

New York State law requires that abandoned money or securities be transferred to the Comptroller’s office if there is no activity in an account for a period, which is typically three years, at which point DiNapoli serves as their custodian until they’re claimed by the rightful owners.

Most claims (52 percent) are under $100, but sometimes there are bigger chunks of change sitting around — the largest so far is $4 million, which was paid to a New Yorker in 2008.

It is free to claim the money, so beware of private companies trying to claim for you, since they will charge a fee of up to 15 percent.

To claim, you will need to provide your Taxpayer Identification Number and other personal information, and be aware that your gains will be reported to the IRS and other taxing authorities by New York State.

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