Are unclaimed funds waiting for you? $11M in unused gift cards sits in government coffers

Nearly $11 million in Long Islanders' unused gift cards has been turned over to the state Office of Unclaimed Funds, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said.

DiNapoli is urging state residents to check with the OUF if they think they have outstanding balances on old cards — and to spend gift cards they received during the holidays so those don't meet the same fate. 

After five years of inactivity, retailers are required by law to report unclaimed gift card balances owed to New York residents to the OUF. If the location of the owner is not known, New York businesses must still report those balances to the comptroller. The law, however, only helps those who have taken steps in advance to protect their gift card, either by registering it with the retailer or copying down the card number and remaining balance — a requirement that many do not complete.    

DiNapoli, who oversees the OUF,  said that his office recovered more than $27 million last year from unclaimed gift cards statewide. Altogether, the comptroller said more than $5.5 million in gift cards is owed to Nassau County residents and $5.3 million is owed to residents of Suffolk County. 

And the county totals could actually be higher than that, since many gift cards are reported to the comptroller without geographic information for the cardholder. 

“Now is a great time to check for unclaimed funds and use those gift cards you received over the holidays to avoid possible inactivity fees or having the money turned over to my office,” DiNapoli said in a statement.

The comptroller has promised to repay every cent in the unclaimed money fund to those who can establish their rightful ownership. That said, DiNapoli occasionally transfers some of the money to the state's general fund to help pay for state programs, including about $711 million last year, Kelly Kuracina, assistant bureau director for the Office of Unclaimed Funds, said.  

If you're unsure whether you have unclaimed gift card balances, you can check a couple of different ways.

If you previously registered the card under your name with the retailer, for example, you can simply call the retailer to find out. You can also check balances on older cards with the comptroller's office. 

If you didn't register the card, but you still have the account number and balance, you can check with the retailer and the comptroller's office using that information. Check for funds at OUF by going to osc.ny.gov/unclaimed-funds. 

Finally, if you didn't register your card, and you don't have the account number, your last hope for a refund would be to ask the person who purchased the gift card to go back to the retailer and see if they can retrieve it. They may be able to identify themselves if they bought it with a credit card and the retailer retained a copy of the credit card number in its records, Kuracina said. 

 The comptroller's office says it's presiding over a total of $18.4 billion in unclaimed funds. Other sources include refund checks from heating oil companies or cable TV providers when the recipient did not leave a forwarding address, dormant bank accounts or long-forgotten retirement accounts. The money can be claimed at any time by its rightful owners.