Found Money

I was recently doing some research, and thought that I would share some valuable info with you guys too :)  It doesn't take long, but you might find some unknown money just floating around out there for yourself.  Go check it out.  I found 3 different claims for my company already!

I got this info from this blog:  http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2010/07/26/how-to-find-unclaimed-money-and-unclaimed-property-online/#

Here are the methods Consumer Reports recommends for finding and reclaiming lost property (along with a few tools I found on my own):

• For property held by states, use MissingMoney.com. (Or just scroll down this page to the list I’ve put together that links to each state’s unclaimed property department.)


• For unclaimed U.S. savings bonds, visit Treasury Hunt at the U.S. government’s Treasury Direct site.


• For accounts at a failed bank, visit the FDIC unclaimed funds site. For accounts at failed credit unions, visit the NCUA unclaimed funds site.


• To track down an abandoned defined-benefit pension, check out the government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp missing participant database. If the plan is still active, you’ll need to read this PDF on finding a lost pension. (The Money Adviser article has more info on this subject.)


• To find an unclaimed 401(k) plan, visit the National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits. You may also want to read the afore-mentioned PDF on finding a lost pension from the PBGC.


• For missing life-insurance proceeds, try MissingMoney.com. The American Council of Life Insurers has some tips for finding a missing policy.


• If you think the IRS owes you money, head over to its website and use the Where’s My Refund? tool.

The U.S. government also has an official government may owe you money page where you can check for unclaimed property, mortgage refunds, and more. Also, my buddy Jeff Rose recommends visiting GovBenefits.gov to see if you qualify for any government benefits. (DisasterAssistance.gov lets you see if you qualify for disaster-relief programs.)
The Money Adviser article provides more information about working with each of these sources. And, of course, the individual websites have detailed instructions for locating unclaimed money and other assets.

Search for unclaimed money by state

In addition to those national searches, each state has a department for unclaimed money and unclaimed property. I found a page that linked to all of these different resources, but the site was woefully out of date. So, I spent a warm Sunday afternoon in my non-air-conditioned office tracking down the current locations of each state’s unclaimed property office. (And I’ve included some info for Canadians, too.) Please let me know if you spot any errors or broken links!

Alabama	Alaska	Arizona
Arkansas	California	Colorado
Connecticut	Delaware	District Of Columbia
Florida	Georgia	Hawaii
Idaho	Illinois	Indiana
Iowa	Kansas	Kentucky
Louisiana	Maine	Maryland
Massachusetts	Michigan	Minnesota
Missouri	Mississippi	Montana
Nebraska	Nevada	New Hampshire
New Jersey	New Mexico	New York
North Carolina	North Dakota	Ohio
Oklahoma	Oregon	Pennsylvania
Rhode Island	South Carolina	South Dakota
Tennessee	Texas	Utah
Vermont	Virginia	Washington
West Virginia	Wisconsin	Wyoming
Puerto Rico	Canada	Quebec