(The Center Square) — Some New Yorkers will start the new year with some extra cash, thanks to a newly enacted law requiring the state to expedite unclaimed fund payments.
The law, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in December, allows the New York State Comptroller’s Office of Unclaimed Funds to send unclaimed funds of $250 or less directly to their rightful owners without requiring them to fill out a claim form.
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, whose office holds over $19 billion in unclaimed funds, said the changes mean that if the comptroller’s office can confirm the identity and mailing address of an entitled owner, those payments will be mailed by check directly to them.
“For any claim of an unclaimed fund of $250 or less, we will do a verification on the rightful ownership,” DiNapoli said. “And we will, instead of just notifying you that we have money, we’ll actually send you the check.”
“By simplifying the process, my office will be able to return lost money even faster while still ensuring the funds get back into the hands of their rightful owners,” DiNapoli said.
The money left owed to them comes from utility and electric power deposits, trust funds, bank accounts, investments, insurance policies, gift cards and estates.
A sizable chunk of the unclaimed money comes from unused gift cards, which retailers can turn over to the comptroller’s office after five years. Statewide, New York City residents are owed the most in unclaimed gift cards, collectively totaling nearly $48 million, followed by Long Island residents at $11.4 million and Hudson Valley residents at $7.8 million, DiNapoli said.
“Many New Yorkers don’t realize gift cards may have their balances transferred to the Office of Unclaimed Funds after five years of inactivity,” he said. “Last year, we recovered over $21 million worth of lost money from unspent gift cards.”
Most of the money held onto by the state was originally for a person who has since died and the next of kin can apply to receive that money, according to DiNapoli’s office.
“If you are a rightful heir, you know, let’s say a parent or grandparent passed away, you can claim that money as well. We need more documentation,” DiNapoli told NBC 4. “Those monies have to be turned over to the state.”
The average claim paid out is between $50 and $100, according to DiNapoli’s office, which says it returns more than $1.5 million in unclaimed funds daily.
