NYS owes Long Islanders more than $1B in unclaimed funds. Are you on the list?
"We’re returning more than $2 million a day to New Yorkers," in unclaimed funds, according to State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Credit: AP / Hans Pennink
Are you owed money? Maybe there’s an old utility deposit, a trust fund, an old bank account or an unused gift card?
The New York State Office of the Comptroller wants you to know that if you’re a New York resident and believe there might be money out there that’s rightfully yours there’s a way to claim it — and State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli is urging you to do so.
The unclaimed funds pool in New York is expected to rise to $20 billion in 2025, up from $19 billion just a year ago.
According to data available on the state comptroller’s office website, there are 831,195 unclaimed accounts worth $611,517,935 outstanding in Nassau and 781,726 unclaimed accounts worth $465,930,555 in Suffolk. There are also 1,481,271 unclaimed accounts in Queens worth $969,989,948.
Already this year, the state has returned $251,816,313 in previously unclaimed funds to New York residents. And the state would like to return even more.
"We’re returning more than $2 million a day to New Yorkers," DiNapoli said in a statement released Wednesday, adding, "but the total pot of lost money is growing."
As DiNapoli said: "Unclaimed funds are your money, and in today’s climate, every dollar counts. My office is working to make it easier than ever to reclaim lost money, including mailing some checks directly to their rightful owners."
In January, the Office of Unclaimed Funds began mailing checks for newly reported accounts of $250 or less to eligible owners.
The comptroller’s office said the Office of Unclaimed Funds "safeguards" more than 55 million unclaimed accounts. That’s a lot of dough.
To search for unclaimed funds, go to osc.ny.gov/unclaimed-funds or call 800-221-9311 weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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