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My Story...
Some years ago, while
shopping online for the holidays, I came across a small link at the
bottom of a merchants website. It said, "Search for Abandoned
Funds". Clicking on the link I came to the New York State
unclaimed funds site operated by the Secretary of State.
Having grown up in New York, I knew there was no money from this
poor boy sitting at the State. But, for laughs I entered my
name. When my name came up TWICE as having unclaimed funds I
was blown away. The funds were from a bank (long closed) where
as a child I had two school bank accounts. New I was aware of
one of them because I still had the passbook (with $6 in it!).
That bank had been sold so many times I had no idea who the current
owner was. It didn't matter. The bank was required to
turn over the money to the state, who was holding it until I found
them. The other account had a few more dollars in it. I
applied to the State and waited. It took one year to get my
money because of a backlog. They DID notify me halfway through
with a card saying they were still processing the claim.
Finally, a check came in the mail! That was fun. In the
meantime I entered names of family and friends. Unbelievably,
many of them came up as having money owed. One really got to
me. It was my late brother-in-law who had SIX PAYCHECKS from
his company. I got hold of his lone surviving known relative
(my nephew) who applied and received the money! That was nice.
SO, I now knew this unclaimed funds business was serious. And
that ANYONE can have money being held for them - without even
knowing it. Searching for your name is not clear-cut.
Many times the state or the company forwarding the funds misspell
your name, reverse the first and last names, or otherwise make a
mistake. That's why you need to put as few letters in the name
search as is allowed, go through all the names, and try other
variances of your name or the names of relatives, friends, and even
businesses!
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