FIND MONEY IN YOUR NAME
New York state is sitting on $18.4 billion in unclaimed funds — some could be yours
THE pot keeps growing. The amount of unclaimed funds held in escrow by New York state rose to $18.4 billion this August, up from $17.5 billion in April. That’s a lot of cash between the digital couch cushions. New Yorkers can check if some of that is there’s by typing their names into the state database maintained by the comptroller’s office: OSC.State.NY.US/Unclaimed-Funds.
If your full name and address show up, there’s a chance that you have a forgotten electric company credit, an abandoned bank account or an unclaimed tax refund, with the money just waiting to come home. After the banks, etcetera, give up trying to track you down, they put the money in escrow with the state, and the state tries to give it back. (The state cannot spend it on potholes or junkets.) So, the Comptroller’s office runs media ads and takes a traveling booth to public events trying to get people to look themselves up and retrieve their money. This fall there will be a heavy presence at country fairs — the one environment in which people will willingly line up in the hot sun for a chance to talk to a business or government entity. Every year, the NYS Comptroller attends the Great NYS Fair. The Unclaimed Funds Booth will be there from Aug. 23 to Sept 4.
The state is currently returning $1.5 million every day to New Yorkers.
Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has been tweeting to get the word out to average New Yorkers, saying, “In honor of tonight’s #AllStarGame, check to see if you have unclaimed funds! Plenty of entries under Cole, Judge and Alonso!”
According to DiNapoli, it’s getting much easier to recover (and spend) your money.
To check for money, just enter your name — or a friend and family name — in the state database’s search bar. You can’t claim for someone else, but you can alert them so they can do it themselves. The only way to make an official claim, and find out the dollar amount, is to enter your social security number.
You can also kick it old school by calling 1-800221-9311.
Searches are free, and the governor’s office encourages it, given the huge amounts waiting to be returned to their rightful owners.
“My office makes every effort to connect New Yorkers with their lost money,” DiNapoli told The Post. “By joining and holding events across the state we can help individuals, companies, nonprofits and municipalities check for unclaimed funds and get their money back to them quickly and easily. To date, over $223 million has been returned this year, and we hope to help more New Yorkers in September.”
The Comptroller’s office sends letters to newly reported owners of unclaimed funds, with 762,833 sent in the last 5 years. Approximately 53% of claims, totaling $130 million, have been paid because of this outreach. So if you get mail marked “New York State,” open it.
There are also events at public libraries across the state, with free one-on-one sessions where individuals can receive help searching for their unclaimed funds and filing claims. In addition, OSC will be providing educational materials and hosting workshops to help individuals understand the process of getting their money.
One active looker is John Hughes, a retired New York school principal in Riverdale, the Bronx. Hughes told The Post, “Actually, I have never collected any money. But every couple of years, I take a look in my name, my wife’s, my daughter’s, and various relatives, and I would send them the link.”
He said they’ve collected a couple of hundred dollars here or there.
“For me it’s like entertainment: I’m doing this dopey thing and telling them, and somebody has, like, $56, of back pay. As I said to my wife, if I do this for your relatives, then I don’t have to go crazy with the holiday gifts,” Hughes said.
There are a few celebs that need to do due diligence, too.
Like Comptroller DiNapoli, Salt-N-Pepa will be at the state fair this summer, celebrating 50 years of hiphop, but band member Sandra Denton may be getting paid twice — her name pops up on the state database for unclaimed funds under Warner Music Group, which has some “outstanding checks issued to vendors” in her name.
There’s also an AT&T credit for a Sandra Denton who lived in New York, classed as “wages/payroll/ salaries/comm/pension pmts” from the year 1994, but it’s hard to believe Pepa ever worked for the phone company when she was rocking “Shoop,” “Whatta Man” and “Let’s Talk About Sex.”
Also playing the state fair is 81-yearold Chubby Checker (left), who covered “Let’s Twist Again” to great effect. Dick Clark’s wife punningly named him Chubby Checker after seeing his impression of Fats Domino (see what she did there?), but Chubby was born Ernest Evans. If the Philly native ever lived in the Big Apple, he may be this Ernest Evans of zip code 10028. If so, Mr. Checker, Aetna Life Insurance has some “refunds/other amts due” waiting for you.
Talking of Gen-X heroines, Madonna Louise Ciccone (above) who once got mail at 1185 Sixth Ave., has some “outstanding checks” owed her by Screenlife. Could be worth collecting, Madge.
Julio Iglesias Jr. is paying the state fair too. Could his father be owed some cash? There are entries for Julio Iglesias (left) in Freeport NY, Huntington NY and Staten Island. One of them might be the crooner of “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before.”
Searching can be difficult if you have a common name. Take Willie Perry Jr., AKA DJ Casper, the Chicago DJ who created the “Cha Cha Slide” and died in August at 58. His family would need to click through 52 different William Perry entries that pop up in the database.
Incidentally, DiNapoli said you can claim funds for deceased people, if you are the person appointed by the court to handle the estate.
Sometimes it’s a bit easier. One Joseph Robert Saddler became the pioneer of scratching, backbeats and rapping as Grandmaster Flash. There are eight entries under that name, and two are owed money by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Good times!