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Show me the money: County has $12 million in unclaimed funds

Patricio Robayo - Staff Writer
Posted 12/10/18

SULLIVAN — The old saying that money doesn't grow on trees is true, but sometimes it's collected as unclaimed funds by the New York State Comptroller.

According to the NYS State Comptroller …

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Show me the money: County has $12 million in unclaimed funds

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SULLIVAN — The old saying that money doesn't grow on trees is true, but sometimes it's collected as unclaimed funds by the New York State Comptroller.

According to the NYS State Comptroller Thomas Dinapoli's Office, $15.5 billion of unclaimed funds from state taxpayers sit in their coffers, $12 million of which are from Sullivan County.

How can you see if you have unclaimed money? Well, there are two ways for Sullivan County residents.

The first is to visit the Sullivan County Treasurer website http://sullivanny.us/Departments/Treasurer/UnclaimedFunds. There you will find a list of uncashed checks, bail deposits, inmate funds, court and trust proceedings, and unclaimed funds court actions.

By law, the list is also published twice in the local paper like the Democrat, along with notices mailed to the person or organization.

“Sometimes people move and will miss the mail and not see it in the paper,” said Sullivan County Treasurer Nancy Buck on why they should check out the website.

Buck herself checks regularly the system to make sure the list is updated, and the people are notified.

After a certain time, the funds are transferred to NYS State Comptroller Office, and they provide a site where you can see if you have unclaimed funds.

You can visit the office's website at www.osc.state.ny.us/ouf/ and click on the Search Now button.

Once there can search with your first, and last name or you can search by organization.

Once the search is done, you are presented with a list of names and addresses. Choose one that refers to you. You will then be brought to a screen where they ask for more information such as your social security number, home address and email.

You will be given a confirmation number, and after a few days you will receive another email notification letting you know the check is being processed.

If the NYS Comptrollers office feels they need more information, a letter will be sent out and depending on the amount you are getting back, it may come by certified mail.

Within five to 15 business days you should receive a check in the mail from the NYS State Comptroller Office.

According to DiNapoli, New York State has more than 39 million account records that remain unclaimed.

The office every day returns over $1.5 million in claimed funds and, according to DiNapoli, a New York resident once received a $5.2 million from a stock claim.

“People should get in the habit at looking at the unclaimed fund's website at least once a month because there's always new money put in,” said Buck. “It's a good practice to always look.”

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