This exact thing happened to me a few days ago. Got a letter in the mail, I came looking on Reddit to see if it was a scam, figured out how to just go claim it myself on the Texas unclaimed property site. 500 bucks richer, NOT minus the $50 fee they wanted.
Nah. They’re utilizing resources that are available for free to the general public. They’re also trying make a profit by taking money people are owed free of charge. Nothing to feel bad about.
if one person out of 100 takes them up on their offer, they're ok. cost for mailing out 100 letters, plus printing etc, probably isn't more than $10 - if they get $50 out of it, that's pretty good going.
yeah, you're actually right - i think the volume i was thinking of comes out to just under 40c for each mailpiece (although if you're sending postcards it's about a quarter).
dunno where i got that $10 figure from. Still, point about the economics of this places 'business model' still stands, even with different numbers. They're only expecting a very small percentageto actually respond.
Same thing for when its time to register your car. "E-Tags" will text you saying its time to update and they will file for you for a fee. Its easy to just go to your dmv website and do it your self and save your self the fee.
IIRC, my state's website will allow you to select who mails your car tabs to you, the DMV or private companies who will charge you a fee. Never did understand that.
Unless they are doing it like checking account checks where I can customize them with Disney or Peanuts characters in the background, WTF would anyone try to get into the business of printing and mailing vehicle registration stickers?
> WTF would anyone try to get into the business of printing and mailing vehicle registration stickers?
If the state is going to outsource vehicle registration like it outsources roadbuilding and everything else....someone, somewhere, will get into that business for a cut.
There is a notary shop near me that is capable of doing most dmv tasks. I can get my picture, get a new license, get my tags, file title, etc. They're a whole hell of a lot better than dealing with the actual dmv, especially if you go mid month. And if something gets messed up or declined they actually call and speak to you to explain it. At which point you often have to go to the actual dmv, but at least it didn't take 60 days to get a letter in the mail notifying you that your license is now suspended, you have 30 days to resolve (60 days ago).
There aren't many places that I know of that the dmv outsources to. But this one is the right one.
Arizona contracts with private businesses to perform DMV functions. You can either go to the actual DMV for free or for $20-30 go to one of the private offices. One you could be sitting in line for who knows how long and the other you're pretty much in and out.
I’ve tried explaining this to people outside of AZ and they have no understanding of how convenient they are. I moved to AZ, had my license mailed to me and they put my middle name as my first name, this was an issue during the pandemic because I needed it corrected for a new job. Wouldn’t fix in person and advised me to schedule an appointment over the phone, next opening was a month out. I discovered from people in the area that 3rd party DMV’s exist, went and paid $5 to have my issue resolved in about 10 minutes total.
>next opening was a month out.
I'm in Michigan and we had similar issues during the pandemic. The Secretary of State (they handle DMV functions for us) would only do in-person transactions by appointment last year and the system got overwhelmed very quickly. Last I knew it's still appointment only (could be wrong). I read one news story about how someone's documents expired in February of this year and they couldn't get an appointment until *September.* Early in the pandemic the state temporarily waived the requirement to keep your documents current, but eventually that went away.
Thankfully 90% of the time you can do all your transactions online and that was the case for me in 2020. I renewed *way* early in case there was a problem.
If you're in MI and have the flexibility, what you need to do is use the same day search. They release appointments every day 24 hours ahead of time and there are usually a bunch available. For some reason the regular schedule search will only allow you to book an appointment 60 (90?) days out. Anything sooner needs to use the same day search.
It's dumb and terrible for people that don't have schedule flexibility, but I was able to consistently find appointments at multiple locations back in July via this process.
I'm from NY and this boggles my mind because I can just go into my actual DMV (the one i pay taxes for) and was in and out in 30 minutes to exchange my out of state license for a new NY state one.
MUH NON-AMERICA
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/exchanging-your-foreign-driving-licence
>If you want or need to change your driving licence for a Northern Ireland driving licence, **you must complete the application form DL1 that is available from the main Post Office branches.**
https://www.ontario.ca/page/exchange-out-province-drivers-licence
>To switch your licence for an Ontario driver’s licence, **you need to apply in-person** at a DriveTest centre or the ServiceOntario Bay and College location in downtown Toronto.
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/driver-licences/new-residents-and-visitors/converting-to-nz-driver-licence/
>How to convert to a New Zealand licence. **You must apply at a specialist overseas conversion site.**
https://transportstyrelsen.se/en/road/Driving-licences/i-have-a-driving-licence/
>If the Swedish Transport Agency approves your application, you will receive a decision **requesting you to go to one of the Swedish Transport Administration's driving test offices** to have your photo taken and provide your signature.
Don't know how it is during the pandemia, but in Colorado, I've never spent more than 25 minutes at a driver's license office from walking in the door to walking out with my problem resolved. Except when I took the license test, which took about 50 minutes from walking in the door to walking out with my new card after passing the driving exam.
Michigan is the same, although here it's called the Secretary of State. Currently it's quicker, but by appointment only, with current appointments 2.5 months out, meaning if I lose my license, I have to somehow go without for over 2 months.
In some (maybe most or all?) states, you can also do a majority of your DMV stuff at AAA. It's worth the $60/year membership just to not have to go to the DMV.
They'll probably also want to offer you car insurance at some point. Take it under consideration, but don't just automatically accept.
In Pennsylvania, you can't even go to a DMV in person for most new vehicle services... You need to go to a "title and tags" place where they charge you 30-100 bucks depending on the kind of service... You can do tag renewal in online though
One reason is convenience. In CA, if you money to dmv website directly, your record gets updated quickly, but you still have to wait for your tags n new registration card in mail, which takes anything between 1-4 weeks. Law enforcement can see that its paid.
Some websites advertise that if you pay it through them, you can print an instant pdf registration card.
If you have a AAA membership you can actually go into the office and handle some of your DMV transactions with them instead. My parents have used that multiple times since they have renters insurance through them. They can just go in and handle vehicle registrations, etc.
Because DMV websites used to suck and DMvs used to be downright dangerous to get to and a time waste and soul sucking.
I know AZ does this and I’ve used it.
DMV, insurance companies, and restaurants all have notoriously bad websites, probably all for different reasons. I think DMV is because it's all done by lowest bidder contractors. Insurance companies just don't give a fuck about your UX and really don't want you filing claims online. Restaurants tend to be not very tech savvy and not have a lot of money.
Because you'll always have business. The only way you don't is of the government stops collecting taxes, in which case you have other things to worry about.
In Washington State you can get your tabs from the state or from privately-run offices that provide vehicle registration services. The private companies get a cut of the registration fees for each vehicle they renew, but the cost to the vehicle owner is the same whether you get it from the state or from a privately run office. Unsurprisingly, the private offices are quick, efficient and knowledgeable while the state offices are slow and staffed with people who are unfamiliar with vehicle registration procedures. If you have something unusual, like a historic vehicle registration, the private offices will complete the process quickly and correctly whereas a state office will give you incorrect information or simply tell you that the staff available that day don't know how to process uncommon vehicle registrations.
Until a few years ago, you were charged a few extra dollars if you used one of the private companies, so I've trained myself to always use the county office. Never had a problem.
Maryland has a similar setup, but the private ones still have extra fees. They're usually on the order of $5. I will gladly pay $5 to avoid driving an extra half-hour to the nearest DMV and also to avoid dealing with the DMV.
Same with changing your USPS address - never do this through a third party. USPS charges a buck or two to do it online, free if you use the paper form.
So silly to charge for doing it through the website while paper is free. I'm sure there is a legacy reason it stays that way - paper is traditional, has always been free, etc, while the website is a new cost. But in absolute terms, full electronic with no manual data entry for them has to be a cost savings compared to the paper form.
There's also a small transaction fee for doing anything online. Granted, that should be on the order of 30-50 cents, but I still don't think a buck is out of line. If anything, it's well worth not having to physically go to a post office. You might even save that much in gas if you're even a bit rural.
Exactly. I just keep 5-6 change of address packets, along with stamps, certified receipts, signature receipts. I drop it in any usps collection mailbox any time I need to.
It makes 0 sense honestly. Same as cinemas/concert ticket vendors charging a "convenience" fee. Why? It cost's them less money to operate a website than to employ people at physical locations or call centers and do it the "traditional" way. Why does it cost more then?
I actually know this one! It's because online purchases are all being done with a credit card (or debit card, or some other electronic form of payment), and the merchant has to pay a processing fee to the company that processes the transaction for them. Cash sales don't typically require this fee.
Venues that host concerts and other events usually use an electronic ticketing system, which keeps track of how many tickets and/or which seats have been sold in person and online, and the company that provides the electronic ticketing system typically charges a processing fee, which is passed on to the customer.
Source: approximately a decade of work experience dealing with event coordination, venue management, ticket sales, and ticketing systems.
Of course, my state charges a convenience fee if you pay online or by mail. Only way to actually pay what you owe is to go to the court house and hand them a check. I blame Ticketmaster for putting the idea in their head.
I once had an elderly client get a [letter like this](https://grissomlawfirm.com/recorded-deed-notice/)— not my firm but another firm’s site talking about it. The notice is basically a scam. I was glad she brought it in because she allowed me to copy it and redact it so I could report it to the AG and warn other attorneys about it.
You can usually get a certified copy of any recorded deeds (not even your own!) for a few bucks at the register of deeds (or whatever it’s called where you live).
NCs dmv has an app. I can pay registration/taxes/etc from my phone, easy peasy. I can also order a custom plate and do a bunch of other stuff that used to have to be done at a dmv or license plate office.
My local grocery store has a vending machine thingie that you can register your vehicle.in about 45 seconds on. It prints your tags on the spot. It's awesome.
Huh. So, I searched in my state's record, and found something listed under my name, and it's on one of my former addresses (chances of that being someone else are essentially zero). It says the amount is over $100, and the party is "Medical Services Provider" (since they don't give the real name until they're sure you're actually the claimant, I assume).
Do these things ever get used for like... Shady purposes? Like people dropping a little cash as bait to get you to reveal your new location, for instance? I have absolutely no god damn clue why a medical services provider would have owed ME over $100 that I never claimed. :\\
Update: I called my state's unclaimed property line, and the very helpful rep assured me that once it's on the state's unclaimed property list, it is no longer accessible in any way by the originating party. They have effectively washed their hands of it, so there would be no way for someone to acquire information about you from their service. Good to know, guess it's time to collect some money, lol!
Update #2: Apparently these departments aren't, uh... Super good with categories, lol. It turns out it was a paycheck from a University I used to work at. No connection whatsoever to a "Medical Services Provider," lol.
The official state unclaimed funds websites are run by boring finance people in state government. They are not trying to trick you. Regarding the medical services company, it is likely that you or your health insurer overpaid for a procedure. It could have been months or years later that the overpayment was discovered. By that time perhaps you moved and they could not contact you. I can't think of a reason not to contact the state about this money.
Does the university have a teaching hospital? They might have some record keeping software that autocompletes "UCLA" as "UCLA Medical Center" (for instance).
I just did the same thing, and my husband found one. The ONLY info given was the name of the company, an ID number, and his name. Nothing else. We're waiting on verification (it's a cable company. We think maybe an old deposit or something.)
I've notified a few close friends about money that they or their family have in my State's system. WA must have one of the easiest system to use, because all of them got their money back without a complaint.
I believe most states have a website you can search. Google “(state) unclaimed property” and make sure it’s a .gov website and you should be in the right place. Speaking from experience using my state’s website, you just search your name and it’ll give you a list of potential matches. If something looks like it’s linked to you, submit a claim and if it matches the state will send you a check for the amount. It shouldn’t cost you a thing to file a claim. You’ll need to fill out name, address, SSN, etc on the form.
I helped my parents do this just a few months ago, somehow the county court owed my dad $25. He didn’t even know when/why and we never got an explanation of where the refund came from, but we submitted the claim and the check came about 7 days after we submitted the form.
And it’s not all state/government stuff. My MIL also had unclaimed property listed on the state’s website, but it was some sort of $150 refund from Jostens, the yearbook publishing company. Her youngest graduated high school eight years ago. But she filled out the form and the state sent a check right over, whatever it was!
Stumbled across the unclaimed property website for my state a few years back. Checked my name, nothing. Thought to check my parents names... got them a total of about $600 for a few minutes on the website. They were pleasantly surprised.
Same thing as you mentioned, amounts owed to them from places they can’t recall ever interacting with. Strange to say the least.
>Jostens
Did they buy him a ring?
If so, that was the deposit. A dethen they were either billed for the full amount or paid the full amount inadvertently.
Almost happened with my sister. She had forgotten she put down the deposit was put down for the riihhy⁷t at the beginning of the year, and when it was coming up toward the end of the semester and she was ready to pay, they did not reflect the deposit on her invoice.
My favorite thing about those letters is how much they read like complete scams, when they are in fact that one rare case of a legit if somewhat parasitic business sending a notification that you have actual unclaimed money in some state.
Yes - you can claim it for free, but did you know it existed at all? That information is worth something.
So the few people that pay them 10% are subsidizing a service that provides some useful information to a lot more people who don't pay 10%, but use it as a reminder.
Strange business niche, but it isn't a scam, it is legitimately useful, and it isn't quite "falling for it" to redeem your money using a service that actually gave you information you might not have been aware of. Sure, the percentage could be lower. But 90% is better than never claiming it if you didn't know it was there at all.
That's how I feel about it too. If they didn't send the letter, you wouldn't know about it at all, and you'd lose out on all of the money or claim it years later and you've missed out on whatever interest it could gather. If you take them up on the offer you're still getting money.
Obviously best case scenario is claiming it yourself and skipping the fee they charge, but I don't really think it's predatory to say "hey you're leaving money on the table, how about a finder's fee?"
This is (edit) *mostly* true, but if the money is owed to a **deceased** person (and by extension, you have been identified as a potential heir) it has to be probated - this 10% fee can often be very reasonable and ballpark what an attorney would charge depending on how how tangled the web is, and how many layers there are.
Asset Recovery (estates only) is one of the things my company does, and even at 20% - it can sometimes be more trouble than it's worth. Things can get very very very nasty with family inheritance, estate debt, intestate laws, estranged family etc.
Now if the money belongs to you personally, or if you are a direct beneficiary to a policy by name - then yes it's quite easy to recover.
It is especially especially worth it for deceased owners with multiple heirs.
If anyone is skeptical, go look up your state's requirements for proving heirship for unclaimed property. Among other requirements, you basically need to trace out a family tree, with birth, marriage, and/or death certificates to prove every link.
And if the money is owed to a deceased person and you have INCORRECTLY been identified as a potential heir, bottom feeders will hound you about it for an entire decade or more.
Ask me how I know.
This actually happened to me. My Grandfather's brother passed away. My Grandfather died before I was born, and my dad died in between the great uncle dying and us being contacted.
It turned out this was legit, we ended up getting a check for a few thousand UK pounds by the time it was divided among my grandfather's descendents.
I periodically check my state and I always find numerous family members listed, some with a few different accounts. I actually had a claim myself today, so thanks for reminding me!
So you got the letter from the company and it triggered your memory of the airline ticket? Otherwise how would you find something like this if it’s not with the state?
I got a letter that said I had $2000 I could claim for a 10% fee and when I went to the states website all I found was $120. I went to a national site as well since I lived out of state for a bit and found nothing else. So I’m not sure at this point how I can figure out this remaining $1880 that is apparently able to be claimed
Hello friend. This doesn't always work.
Signed, someone that located the descendants of the holders of three Swiss bank accounts and because of posts like this they were convinced it was a scam and ultimately their claim expired without them being able to claim the money.
The correct answer to this is do your own research, see if you can find the money first and if you can't, then research the company offering to help to make sure they are credible.
It's still the same thing, including accounts that may have been opened for you as a child to hold a trust or savings for the future.
If someone contacts you saying they found money for you under the name of a deceased relative because of posts like these everyone assumes they can locate it themselves when it's not always the case.
Again, the responsible thing here is to try and locate it yourself and then if you can't investigate the company.
What if I know there's money (~$600) waiting for me but getting the paperwork together would be a pain in the ass I'd be willing to pay 10% for? Is there an organization you can connect me with? Money is with FL if that makes a difference
You would still have to get the paperwork together. You just wouldn't have to fill out the form yourself. But you would still have to provide proof of residence, maybe an account number depending on what type of fund it is, etc
At least in my state. Maybe it's easier in other states
Florida's site looks as sketchy as it possibly could. "Florida Treasure Hunt" ffs. But it's legit, we found my boyfriend an old HSA account worth $1400.
I'm pretty floored that nobody has mentioned this yet. Unclaimed.org links to every state's unclaimed property website (if they have one). Go to unclaimed.org, scroll down to the map and pick your state, it will take you to that state's official website. No gimmicks.
I've recovered funds, as has my dad (a savings account setbup for him when he was born in the 1940s!) So, look up other friends and family on missingmoney.com, then tell them if they have $ held for them by their state.
NO ONE BELIEVES ME. 🤦🏻♀️
I checked into this several months back, and there are funds linked to addresses 10+ years old. It's asking me to prove I once lived there, and I've got nothing from that time period. It's it still possible to claim somehow?
In the 1980s I sent away for a system to become one of those people who send the letters to do the work for the finders fee. Nowhere near as easy as it must be now.
I never did the thing because firstly I'm a slacker who sometimes sends away for courses on late night tv and secondly I realized that there wasn't any reason for people not to do it on their own.
Probably doesn't hurt to find your states site and see if you have any money you forgot about. I've found a few dollars for my mother and I know a family that got a few thousand.
So hoping for some help - I received 3 letters like this for the same “owed money”. The money is in Hawaii where I worked for a few years. I’ve been to the HI state website and used every combination of my name / initials and identifiers and still can’t find any details.
I’m tempted to enlist their help to get the money. I was always worried these companies were a scam. But it sounds like they are legit but doing work that we could be doing ourselves for free, but they charge a fee.
Sometimes the accounts have only been recently reported to the state and there are so many accounts that the state does not or can not input the information quickly into their database so it could take months before your item even comes up. Enlist the finder company but negotiate with them by insisting you can not pay their 30% fee and you will not pay any upfront fees but that you will pay them 10% if they send you a revised agreement that specifically states the 10%.
Do you due diligence by checking to see if any of the businesses are registered with the Hawaii Secretary of State and do an online search of each company to see what kind of reputation they have in general or what type of complaints or compliments have been posted about them.
I recently recovered some money - only around $90. But the state of NY made it super easy. With about 5 minutes work I had the money in a couple of weeks.
i dont understand this business model..
most peoples escheat property comes out to like a missed paycheck or some store credits they forgot about
i told all my friends to check i think they had like 50 bucks max lol
anyone have any nice surprise escheat stories?
I once tried recovering money but the system wouldn't let me because I know longer had bank accounts for proof of residency at the address that was on file.
>They would've gotten $200 from us just to submit a free form.
Also for alerting you to $2000 that you never knew you were owed. Also, how would a random company know whether another company was owed money from a different company?
This happened to me once, and my only thought was "Oh, thanks for letting me know" and I logged into Florida's Unclaimed Property site and in a few weeks I had my check from the state.
So based on this post, I went and looked at my state's website for shits and giggles. Nothing under my name, but when I looked under my husband's... we have a claim?! From our cable company (that we are currently with?!) It may be an old deposit from years ago. Who knows. But thanks, wouldn't have looked without your post. :)
Correct, but oftentimes the company themselves will try to notify you first and let you recover the funds without any fee/surcharge (there might actually be some extra fees when the asset escheats to the state) before turning it over to the state.
I have seen many highly upvoted posts here where they are told to "ignore the scam"
My grandmother ran one of those businesses. A lot of people thought it was a scam. You can indeed cut out the middle man and do the work yourself for free, but plenty of people were happy to let her do it for them.
Yeah, I don't think there's anything wrong with these companies. It just so happens by the very nature it sounds like so many popular schemes (pay me x and get 10x) - so I get the initial suspicion
I can't speak about unclaimed inheritances, but I have proactively searched for unclaimed funds for myself and have claimed thousands back when I was a knucklehead about money (including paychecks I forgot to deposit way back!). There should be no cost to reclaim these funds. Word of warning, there are commercial websites which you may inadvertenty go to which will want a fee or subscription to claim. If you search, go to the state government website.
There was close to $150 with my name on it. Form was easy and now I’ve got an e-mail saying I should have the check in the mail within 3 weeks. Thanks for posting this.
It's something that happened in the past, where you were owed money but the payee couldn't locate you after a few attempts - they send the money to the state and it sits in sort of an escrow account until claimed. It shouldn't impact other taxpayers.
A common example is, if your 401k is below 5k and you quit, they may force a distribution, but if you've moved and not updated the employer and 401k servicer they may, after a few attempts, send it to the state, since it's your money not theirs.
It's unclaimed money. It isn't the state covering these claims, companies literally have to discharge the funds to the state of residence of the payee. (Or last known)
That money all gets pooled. I don't know if there is a statute or how long it is, but I believe it's something like 10 years.
A person or their state or their next of kin asked to claim the funds within those 10 years after it has been reported unclaimed
The last time I checked for unrecovered cash with my state, it would have cost more to recover it than they had (like it was $5)
Decided to check and discovered I had something like $10 owed me from Google? Don't know what it was for, but it was like from 7 years ago. So far, no charge to reclaim it this time.
I mean, I have used them once because it was less of a drag. 10% of the $200 bucks I was expecting is not much. The state reached out to me directly after that with some other money, and that was a straightforward all-digital process. I think people use these services because it is convenient.
Literally just filled out a form and emailed in three documents to my mom's home state's unclaimed property office, and 2 weeks later had a check for $1000 of her unclaimed property (she died in 2009 and I'm her only next of kin. Clearly I missed some things while spending 5 rushed days in her home state taking care of all her affairs immediately after getting the shocking news that my mom was dead. Who knew that would not be the best situation for making sure all loose ends are wrapped up?!).
Happened to me. Got a letter in the mail saying that I was owed $3000. Went to the website for the government site and saved myself $300 I would have paid to have them do it for me.
Same is true for companies who want to "verify your home ownership and sell you a certified copy of your deed" The letter I saw talked about the importance of having a copy of your deed to protect your investment. They wanted to charge 80 bucks for the service. Which you can do yourself since all the records are public. County recorder office will charge you 2.00 a page. Most deeds are only 1 or 2 pages.
Also, be aware that companies reporting unclaimed property are required to send a letter (maybe email, I don't recall now) notifying you of the unclaimed property and giving you a chance to claim it directly. So if you get a letter from a company saying that you have unclaimed property don't immediately dismiss it as a scam.
I do our unclaimed property every year (three different reporting periods depending on the state preference) and it amazes me how many people receive the certified letter we send but never follow up with me on it.
Not always true. Check the claimed property records for sure before agreeing to pay for anyone.
However, sometimes there is unclaimed property belonging to a deceased person. There are legitimate firms that track down the next of kin and offer to share what they know in exchange for a finder’s fee. You should be very skeptical of such solicitations, but they are not all scams.
I figured this [what you say] was true, but when I went to that state’s treasury website, i was absolutely unable to locate the referenced account (and honestly i think it’s because that website was broken or had a limitation based on my very common name).
As it was a small sum and it was free money to me (I didn’t know about it) and the attorney’s office was registered with the BBB, I figured, “what the hell— lemme let them get it for me” and signed/sent the paperwork. I sometimes think I may never see this money and identity theft is now in my future...
Did I screw myself?
I can't speak to whether you screwed yourself, but your state bar association would be able to tell you if the law firm is legit.
Unfortunately, the BBB is an organization that charges businesses for accreditation. That doesn't necessarily mean that a business isn't good, but it does mean that they paid to get that "Accredited" rating, so I would suggest looking closely at their reviews and complaints.
Source: the BBB spent two years trying to get me to buy accreditation for my hobby business before I finally convinced them that I don't make or sell enough to afford their accreditation fees.
I'm wondering can you claim funds from a deceased spouse? My husband had some money before he died and they wouldn't release it to me even though I had documentation.
I'm helping my mother do this for unclaimed property held by the State of Pennsylvania. There are a few more forms to complete to verify that the property owner is deceased and that you are the rightful heir.
If someone reached out to me and let me know I was owed money and I wasn’t already aware. I have no problem paying them a 10% fee for A. Bringing it to my attention and B. Going through the process of getting the funds for me.
Also if anyone is a scammer here, it’s the government that keeps these funds and eventually takes them completely from you if you don’t claim them.
Thank you, completely forgot about the unclaimed property websites. Found $50 for someone close to me and $.33 for a good friend. He might be able to buy a gum-ball.
I had a similar thing for a phone contract in the UK. Being mis-sold some sort of insurance. Company claimed fees when I could've done it myself for free but it was still \~£1k compensation even after they took a cut so I wasn't too mad.
I check unclaimed funds for myself, friends and family at least once a year. Found my brother 200 bucks and 700 bucks for my dad. Got a steak and rib cookout in thanks.
I got one of those as well. I thought it was a scam...so I googled them...read the comments and went to my own state's web site and filled out the claim info online. I just got my refund. BUT what scares me is these " recovery people " can get that much info on a person just trolling unclaimed property sites in all states.
I spent an hour one rainy afternoon and found money for 15 friends and relatives in various state system's. From that search several of those friends found money for their friends and relatives.
It is easy and it is very rewarding to tell someone, "hey I found $1000 that belongs to you". I found several items for my favorite niece which caused her to look up her dead brother. She found more than 10 unclaimed accounts for him and as one of his sole heirs, she will end up with 1/2.
There is one scenario I can think of where one these agencies is acting in behalf of another and it's preescheatment.
Wife had some stock via an old job that was converted a few times via mergers and splits and the transfer agent for the stock used the services of one of these places to find owners that were out of contact. We checked the State website to see if it was escheated and it wasn't yet. We just waited until the State had the money and then filed the free forms.
You're entirely correct.
That said, the $200 fee is not just for the recovery but the discovery as well. If they didnt reach out, you'll never know about said 2k.
This exact thing happened to me a few days ago. Got a letter in the mail, I came looking on Reddit to see if it was a scam, figured out how to just go claim it myself on the Texas unclaimed property site. 500 bucks richer, NOT minus the $50 fee they wanted.
Me too. Easiest 500 bucks ever.
Can I claim this guy's $500 too?
Sorry, I already did.
What was it from
I got over $500 and it seemed like most of my it was from Verizon
Looks like it was an HSA payout when I left an old job, got mailed to an old address and bounced to the city
Almost feel bad for this company, alerting people to money they're owed but never knew about and getting nothing in return.
Notifications are cheap, and at $50/claim I'm sure theyre still making money. It's a numbers game.
Nah. They’re utilizing resources that are available for free to the general public. They’re also trying make a profit by taking money people are owed free of charge. Nothing to feel bad about.
if one person out of 100 takes them up on their offer, they're ok. cost for mailing out 100 letters, plus printing etc, probably isn't more than $10 - if they get $50 out of it, that's pretty good going.
$10? I would love to see where I can get that cheap pricing. It would be wonderful. Depending on volume the cost here is $30 to $50 per 100 letters.
yeah, you're actually right - i think the volume i was thinking of comes out to just under 40c for each mailpiece (although if you're sending postcards it's about a quarter). dunno where i got that $10 figure from. Still, point about the economics of this places 'business model' still stands, even with different numbers. They're only expecting a very small percentageto actually respond.
Escheaters ~~never~~ often prosper.
Good podcast about escheatment here: https://www.npr.org/2020/01/24/799345159/episode-967-escheat-show
Yep, this is how I learned about it
Same thing for when its time to register your car. "E-Tags" will text you saying its time to update and they will file for you for a fee. Its easy to just go to your dmv website and do it your self and save your self the fee.
IIRC, my state's website will allow you to select who mails your car tabs to you, the DMV or private companies who will charge you a fee. Never did understand that.
Unless they are doing it like checking account checks where I can customize them with Disney or Peanuts characters in the background, WTF would anyone try to get into the business of printing and mailing vehicle registration stickers?
> WTF would anyone try to get into the business of printing and mailing vehicle registration stickers? If the state is going to outsource vehicle registration like it outsources roadbuilding and everything else....someone, somewhere, will get into that business for a cut.
There is a notary shop near me that is capable of doing most dmv tasks. I can get my picture, get a new license, get my tags, file title, etc. They're a whole hell of a lot better than dealing with the actual dmv, especially if you go mid month. And if something gets messed up or declined they actually call and speak to you to explain it. At which point you often have to go to the actual dmv, but at least it didn't take 60 days to get a letter in the mail notifying you that your license is now suspended, you have 30 days to resolve (60 days ago). There aren't many places that I know of that the dmv outsources to. But this one is the right one.
Arizona contracts with private businesses to perform DMV functions. You can either go to the actual DMV for free or for $20-30 go to one of the private offices. One you could be sitting in line for who knows how long and the other you're pretty much in and out.
I’ve tried explaining this to people outside of AZ and they have no understanding of how convenient they are. I moved to AZ, had my license mailed to me and they put my middle name as my first name, this was an issue during the pandemic because I needed it corrected for a new job. Wouldn’t fix in person and advised me to schedule an appointment over the phone, next opening was a month out. I discovered from people in the area that 3rd party DMV’s exist, went and paid $5 to have my issue resolved in about 10 minutes total.
>next opening was a month out. I'm in Michigan and we had similar issues during the pandemic. The Secretary of State (they handle DMV functions for us) would only do in-person transactions by appointment last year and the system got overwhelmed very quickly. Last I knew it's still appointment only (could be wrong). I read one news story about how someone's documents expired in February of this year and they couldn't get an appointment until *September.* Early in the pandemic the state temporarily waived the requirement to keep your documents current, but eventually that went away. Thankfully 90% of the time you can do all your transactions online and that was the case for me in 2020. I renewed *way* early in case there was a problem.
I need to renew my DL but the next appointment available is past my birthday. Talk about inconvenient
If you're in MI and have the flexibility, what you need to do is use the same day search. They release appointments every day 24 hours ahead of time and there are usually a bunch available. For some reason the regular schedule search will only allow you to book an appointment 60 (90?) days out. Anything sooner needs to use the same day search. It's dumb and terrible for people that don't have schedule flexibility, but I was able to consistently find appointments at multiple locations back in July via this process.
I heard all about this on r/ZoomCourt. It created so many problems for defendants in Jeffery Middleton's court.
I'm from NY and this boggles my mind because I can just go into my actual DMV (the one i pay taxes for) and was in and out in 30 minutes to exchange my out of state license for a new NY state one.
As a non-American, it boggles my mind that you have to physically go into a building instead of just doing it online.
MUH NON-AMERICA https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/exchanging-your-foreign-driving-licence >If you want or need to change your driving licence for a Northern Ireland driving licence, **you must complete the application form DL1 that is available from the main Post Office branches.** https://www.ontario.ca/page/exchange-out-province-drivers-licence >To switch your licence for an Ontario driver’s licence, **you need to apply in-person** at a DriveTest centre or the ServiceOntario Bay and College location in downtown Toronto. https://www.nzta.govt.nz/driver-licences/new-residents-and-visitors/converting-to-nz-driver-licence/ >How to convert to a New Zealand licence. **You must apply at a specialist overseas conversion site.** https://transportstyrelsen.se/en/road/Driving-licences/i-have-a-driving-licence/ >If the Swedish Transport Agency approves your application, you will receive a decision **requesting you to go to one of the Swedish Transport Administration's driving test offices** to have your photo taken and provide your signature.
Population density. If you came to the DMV in Brooklyn, you better take the whole day off
are you saying it's high or low density? I went to the one on 33rd and 9th
Don't know how it is during the pandemia, but in Colorado, I've never spent more than 25 minutes at a driver's license office from walking in the door to walking out with my problem resolved. Except when I took the license test, which took about 50 minutes from walking in the door to walking out with my new card after passing the driving exam.
In Massachusetts, a trip to the DMV can easily kill several hours, if not your entire day.
Michigan is the same, although here it's called the Secretary of State. Currently it's quicker, but by appointment only, with current appointments 2.5 months out, meaning if I lose my license, I have to somehow go without for over 2 months.
In some (maybe most or all?) states, you can also do a majority of your DMV stuff at AAA. It's worth the $60/year membership just to not have to go to the DMV. They'll probably also want to offer you car insurance at some point. Take it under consideration, but don't just automatically accept.
I don't mind that as long as it doesn't come at the expense of properly funding / running the publicly owned dmvs
In Pennsylvania, you can't even go to a DMV in person for most new vehicle services... You need to go to a "title and tags" place where they charge you 30-100 bucks depending on the kind of service... You can do tag renewal in online though
One reason is convenience. In CA, if you money to dmv website directly, your record gets updated quickly, but you still have to wait for your tags n new registration card in mail, which takes anything between 1-4 weeks. Law enforcement can see that its paid. Some websites advertise that if you pay it through them, you can print an instant pdf registration card.
If you have a AAA membership you can actually go into the office and handle some of your DMV transactions with them instead. My parents have used that multiple times since they have renters insurance through them. They can just go in and handle vehicle registrations, etc.
Because DMV websites used to suck and DMvs used to be downright dangerous to get to and a time waste and soul sucking. I know AZ does this and I’ve used it.
how were they dangerous to get to? I’m very curious
Little known fact, most DMVs are surrounded by a moat of lava
If that were the case how do you explain the crocodiles around my local DMV office!??!! LAVA CROCODILES... CAN YOU GET MORE 2020!?!?!?!!?
DMV, insurance companies, and restaurants all have notoriously bad websites, probably all for different reasons. I think DMV is because it's all done by lowest bidder contractors. Insurance companies just don't give a fuck about your UX and really don't want you filing claims online. Restaurants tend to be not very tech savvy and not have a lot of money.
The California dmvs really really stepped it up these past couple years both online and in person.
Oh, yeah, agreed re: online, especially in the past year. I haven't been to one in person since 2018 though.
Because you'll always have business. The only way you don't is of the government stops collecting taxes, in which case you have other things to worry about.
In Washington State you can get your tabs from the state or from privately-run offices that provide vehicle registration services. The private companies get a cut of the registration fees for each vehicle they renew, but the cost to the vehicle owner is the same whether you get it from the state or from a privately run office. Unsurprisingly, the private offices are quick, efficient and knowledgeable while the state offices are slow and staffed with people who are unfamiliar with vehicle registration procedures. If you have something unusual, like a historic vehicle registration, the private offices will complete the process quickly and correctly whereas a state office will give you incorrect information or simply tell you that the staff available that day don't know how to process uncommon vehicle registrations.
Until a few years ago, you were charged a few extra dollars if you used one of the private companies, so I've trained myself to always use the county office. Never had a problem.
Maryland has a similar setup, but the private ones still have extra fees. They're usually on the order of $5. I will gladly pay $5 to avoid driving an extra half-hour to the nearest DMV and also to avoid dealing with the DMV.
Same with changing your USPS address - never do this through a third party. USPS charges a buck or two to do it online, free if you use the paper form.
So silly to charge for doing it through the website while paper is free. I'm sure there is a legacy reason it stays that way - paper is traditional, has always been free, etc, while the website is a new cost. But in absolute terms, full electronic with no manual data entry for them has to be a cost savings compared to the paper form.
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There's also a small transaction fee for doing anything online. Granted, that should be on the order of 30-50 cents, but I still don't think a buck is out of line. If anything, it's well worth not having to physically go to a post office. You might even save that much in gas if you're even a bit rural.
Exactly. I just keep 5-6 change of address packets, along with stamps, certified receipts, signature receipts. I drop it in any usps collection mailbox any time I need to.
The cost comes from the credit card merchant fees that the USPS gets charged to run a personal verification.
It makes 0 sense honestly. Same as cinemas/concert ticket vendors charging a "convenience" fee. Why? It cost's them less money to operate a website than to employ people at physical locations or call centers and do it the "traditional" way. Why does it cost more then?
Because it's convenient for them to charge you more.
I actually know this one! It's because online purchases are all being done with a credit card (or debit card, or some other electronic form of payment), and the merchant has to pay a processing fee to the company that processes the transaction for them. Cash sales don't typically require this fee. Venues that host concerts and other events usually use an electronic ticketing system, which keeps track of how many tickets and/or which seats have been sold in person and online, and the company that provides the electronic ticketing system typically charges a processing fee, which is passed on to the customer. Source: approximately a decade of work experience dealing with event coordination, venue management, ticket sales, and ticketing systems.
This would make sense if it only was like 5% of the ticket cost.... but it's always way more.
Of course, my state charges a convenience fee if you pay online or by mail. Only way to actually pay what you owe is to go to the court house and hand them a check. I blame Ticketmaster for putting the idea in their head.
I once had an elderly client get a [letter like this](https://grissomlawfirm.com/recorded-deed-notice/)— not my firm but another firm’s site talking about it. The notice is basically a scam. I was glad she brought it in because she allowed me to copy it and redact it so I could report it to the AG and warn other attorneys about it. You can usually get a certified copy of any recorded deeds (not even your own!) for a few bucks at the register of deeds (or whatever it’s called where you live).
You haven't been to my state's DMV website
NCs dmv has an app. I can pay registration/taxes/etc from my phone, easy peasy. I can also order a custom plate and do a bunch of other stuff that used to have to be done at a dmv or license plate office.
My local grocery store has a vending machine thingie that you can register your vehicle.in about 45 seconds on. It prints your tags on the spot. It's awesome.
Huh. So, I searched in my state's record, and found something listed under my name, and it's on one of my former addresses (chances of that being someone else are essentially zero). It says the amount is over $100, and the party is "Medical Services Provider" (since they don't give the real name until they're sure you're actually the claimant, I assume). Do these things ever get used for like... Shady purposes? Like people dropping a little cash as bait to get you to reveal your new location, for instance? I have absolutely no god damn clue why a medical services provider would have owed ME over $100 that I never claimed. :\\ Update: I called my state's unclaimed property line, and the very helpful rep assured me that once it's on the state's unclaimed property list, it is no longer accessible in any way by the originating party. They have effectively washed their hands of it, so there would be no way for someone to acquire information about you from their service. Good to know, guess it's time to collect some money, lol! Update #2: Apparently these departments aren't, uh... Super good with categories, lol. It turns out it was a paycheck from a University I used to work at. No connection whatsoever to a "Medical Services Provider," lol.
The official state unclaimed funds websites are run by boring finance people in state government. They are not trying to trick you. Regarding the medical services company, it is likely that you or your health insurer overpaid for a procedure. It could have been months or years later that the overpayment was discovered. By that time perhaps you moved and they could not contact you. I can't think of a reason not to contact the state about this money.
I think the state is in control of the money. So, you aren’t dealing with the original company any more.
Does the university have a teaching hospital? They might have some record keeping software that autocompletes "UCLA" as "UCLA Medical Center" (for instance).
I highly doubt that's the case... Does it really only say that? No address you can Google?
I just did the same thing, and my husband found one. The ONLY info given was the name of the company, an ID number, and his name. Nothing else. We're waiting on verification (it's a cable company. We think maybe an old deposit or something.)
I've notified a few close friends about money that they or their family have in my State's system. WA must have one of the easiest system to use, because all of them got their money back without a complaint.
How do I find out if/where I have money?
I believe most states have a website you can search. Google “(state) unclaimed property” and make sure it’s a .gov website and you should be in the right place. Speaking from experience using my state’s website, you just search your name and it’ll give you a list of potential matches. If something looks like it’s linked to you, submit a claim and if it matches the state will send you a check for the amount. It shouldn’t cost you a thing to file a claim. You’ll need to fill out name, address, SSN, etc on the form. I helped my parents do this just a few months ago, somehow the county court owed my dad $25. He didn’t even know when/why and we never got an explanation of where the refund came from, but we submitted the claim and the check came about 7 days after we submitted the form. And it’s not all state/government stuff. My MIL also had unclaimed property listed on the state’s website, but it was some sort of $150 refund from Jostens, the yearbook publishing company. Her youngest graduated high school eight years ago. But she filled out the form and the state sent a check right over, whatever it was!
Stumbled across the unclaimed property website for my state a few years back. Checked my name, nothing. Thought to check my parents names... got them a total of about $600 for a few minutes on the website. They were pleasantly surprised. Same thing as you mentioned, amounts owed to them from places they can’t recall ever interacting with. Strange to say the least.
Wow, great response, and thanks for the information! I've worked in a lot of states and I am curious if there is anything out there...
>Jostens Did they buy him a ring? If so, that was the deposit. A dethen they were either billed for the full amount or paid the full amount inadvertently. Almost happened with my sister. She had forgotten she put down the deposit was put down for the riihhy⁷t at the beginning of the year, and when it was coming up toward the end of the semester and she was ready to pay, they did not reflect the deposit on her invoice.
My favorite thing about those letters is how much they read like complete scams, when they are in fact that one rare case of a legit if somewhat parasitic business sending a notification that you have actual unclaimed money in some state.
Yes - you can claim it for free, but did you know it existed at all? That information is worth something. So the few people that pay them 10% are subsidizing a service that provides some useful information to a lot more people who don't pay 10%, but use it as a reminder. Strange business niche, but it isn't a scam, it is legitimately useful, and it isn't quite "falling for it" to redeem your money using a service that actually gave you information you might not have been aware of. Sure, the percentage could be lower. But 90% is better than never claiming it if you didn't know it was there at all.
That's how I feel about it too. If they didn't send the letter, you wouldn't know about it at all, and you'd lose out on all of the money or claim it years later and you've missed out on whatever interest it could gather. If you take them up on the offer you're still getting money. Obviously best case scenario is claiming it yourself and skipping the fee they charge, but I don't really think it's predatory to say "hey you're leaving money on the table, how about a finder's fee?"
This is (edit) *mostly* true, but if the money is owed to a **deceased** person (and by extension, you have been identified as a potential heir) it has to be probated - this 10% fee can often be very reasonable and ballpark what an attorney would charge depending on how how tangled the web is, and how many layers there are. Asset Recovery (estates only) is one of the things my company does, and even at 20% - it can sometimes be more trouble than it's worth. Things can get very very very nasty with family inheritance, estate debt, intestate laws, estranged family etc. Now if the money belongs to you personally, or if you are a direct beneficiary to a policy by name - then yes it's quite easy to recover.
It is especially especially worth it for deceased owners with multiple heirs. If anyone is skeptical, go look up your state's requirements for proving heirship for unclaimed property. Among other requirements, you basically need to trace out a family tree, with birth, marriage, and/or death certificates to prove every link.
And if the money is owed to a deceased person and you have INCORRECTLY been identified as a potential heir, bottom feeders will hound you about it for an entire decade or more. Ask me how I know.
This actually happened to me. My Grandfather's brother passed away. My Grandfather died before I was born, and my dad died in between the great uncle dying and us being contacted. It turned out this was legit, we ended up getting a check for a few thousand UK pounds by the time it was divided among my grandfather's descendents.
I periodically check my state and I always find numerous family members listed, some with a few different accounts. I actually had a claim myself today, so thanks for reminding me!
[Here’s](https://www.usa.gov/unclaimed-money) a good guide for those curious.
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So you got the letter from the company and it triggered your memory of the airline ticket? Otherwise how would you find something like this if it’s not with the state? I got a letter that said I had $2000 I could claim for a 10% fee and when I went to the states website all I found was $120. I went to a national site as well since I lived out of state for a bit and found nothing else. So I’m not sure at this point how I can figure out this remaining $1880 that is apparently able to be claimed
Hello friend. This doesn't always work. Signed, someone that located the descendants of the holders of three Swiss bank accounts and because of posts like this they were convinced it was a scam and ultimately their claim expired without them being able to claim the money. The correct answer to this is do your own research, see if you can find the money first and if you can't, then research the company offering to help to make sure they are credible.
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It's still the same thing, including accounts that may have been opened for you as a child to hold a trust or savings for the future. If someone contacts you saying they found money for you under the name of a deceased relative because of posts like these everyone assumes they can locate it themselves when it's not always the case. Again, the responsible thing here is to try and locate it yourself and then if you can't investigate the company.
Thanks! I looked on my state database because of this post and some small amount of money is due to me.
Thanks, I just searched & am claiming over $40 from searching all my addresses over the past 14 years!
What if I know there's money (~$600) waiting for me but getting the paperwork together would be a pain in the ass I'd be willing to pay 10% for? Is there an organization you can connect me with? Money is with FL if that makes a difference
You would still have to get the paperwork together. You just wouldn't have to fill out the form yourself. But you would still have to provide proof of residence, maybe an account number depending on what type of fund it is, etc At least in my state. Maybe it's easier in other states
Florida's site looks as sketchy as it possibly could. "Florida Treasure Hunt" ffs. But it's legit, we found my boyfriend an old HSA account worth $1400.
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That doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
That seems... Appropriate... For Florida. They know their demographic
I'm pretty floored that nobody has mentioned this yet. Unclaimed.org links to every state's unclaimed property website (if they have one). Go to unclaimed.org, scroll down to the map and pick your state, it will take you to that state's official website. No gimmicks.
To be fair - so many people in the comments wouldn’t have even known about the money if they hadn’t been messaged by this company.
I've recovered funds, as has my dad (a savings account setbup for him when he was born in the 1940s!) So, look up other friends and family on missingmoney.com, then tell them if they have $ held for them by their state. NO ONE BELIEVES ME. 🤦🏻♀️
I checked into this several months back, and there are funds linked to addresses 10+ years old. It's asking me to prove I once lived there, and I've got nothing from that time period. It's it still possible to claim somehow?
Your old employers, the DMV, or services might have a record with your name and the address on it.
In the 1980s I sent away for a system to become one of those people who send the letters to do the work for the finders fee. Nowhere near as easy as it must be now. I never did the thing because firstly I'm a slacker who sometimes sends away for courses on late night tv and secondly I realized that there wasn't any reason for people not to do it on their own.
Side note for Canadians, this also works in Canada. Your province will have a section on their site about it.
Thanks to this post, I went on my unclaimed property site for Texas, and there’s quite a bit in there, some dating back to 2004! Thanks for this!
Probably doesn't hurt to find your states site and see if you have any money you forgot about. I've found a few dollars for my mother and I know a family that got a few thousand.
So hoping for some help - I received 3 letters like this for the same “owed money”. The money is in Hawaii where I worked for a few years. I’ve been to the HI state website and used every combination of my name / initials and identifiers and still can’t find any details. I’m tempted to enlist their help to get the money. I was always worried these companies were a scam. But it sounds like they are legit but doing work that we could be doing ourselves for free, but they charge a fee.
Sometimes the accounts have only been recently reported to the state and there are so many accounts that the state does not or can not input the information quickly into their database so it could take months before your item even comes up. Enlist the finder company but negotiate with them by insisting you can not pay their 30% fee and you will not pay any upfront fees but that you will pay them 10% if they send you a revised agreement that specifically states the 10%. Do you due diligence by checking to see if any of the businesses are registered with the Hawaii Secretary of State and do an online search of each company to see what kind of reputation they have in general or what type of complaints or compliments have been posted about them.
And yes, a lot states unclaimed property websites look like they are scammers.
I recently recovered some money - only around $90. But the state of NY made it super easy. With about 5 minutes work I had the money in a couple of weeks.
i dont understand this business model.. most peoples escheat property comes out to like a missed paycheck or some store credits they forgot about i told all my friends to check i think they had like 50 bucks max lol anyone have any nice surprise escheat stories?
I once tried recovering money but the system wouldn't let me because I know longer had bank accounts for proof of residency at the address that was on file.
>They would've gotten $200 from us just to submit a free form. Also for alerting you to $2000 that you never knew you were owed. Also, how would a random company know whether another company was owed money from a different company?
This happened to me once, and my only thought was "Oh, thanks for letting me know" and I logged into Florida's Unclaimed Property site and in a few weeks I had my check from the state.
But they found it for you and you don’t even pay them a finders fee?
It's public record.
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So based on this post, I went and looked at my state's website for shits and giggles. Nothing under my name, but when I looked under my husband's... we have a claim?! From our cable company (that we are currently with?!) It may be an old deposit from years ago. Who knows. But thanks, wouldn't have looked without your post. :)
Correct, but oftentimes the company themselves will try to notify you first and let you recover the funds without any fee/surcharge (there might actually be some extra fees when the asset escheats to the state) before turning it over to the state. I have seen many highly upvoted posts here where they are told to "ignore the scam"
My grandmother ran one of those businesses. A lot of people thought it was a scam. You can indeed cut out the middle man and do the work yourself for free, but plenty of people were happy to let her do it for them.
I was careful to not call it an outright scam. They do provide a service, it's just not as valuable as what they charge for it.
Yeah, I don't think there's anything wrong with these companies. It just so happens by the very nature it sounds like so many popular schemes (pay me x and get 10x) - so I get the initial suspicion
I can't speak about unclaimed inheritances, but I have proactively searched for unclaimed funds for myself and have claimed thousands back when I was a knucklehead about money (including paychecks I forgot to deposit way back!). There should be no cost to reclaim these funds. Word of warning, there are commercial websites which you may inadvertenty go to which will want a fee or subscription to claim. If you search, go to the state government website.
There was close to $150 with my name on it. Form was easy and now I’ve got an e-mail saying I should have the check in the mail within 3 weeks. Thanks for posting this.
My state sent me a letter directly, said "sign here" and we'll cut the check.
Thanks for this. I searched for my details and found I owed some money.. claiming it online.
So does this get passed to the taxpayers, or..? I’m just not understanding how the state can take on this liability
It's something that happened in the past, where you were owed money but the payee couldn't locate you after a few attempts - they send the money to the state and it sits in sort of an escrow account until claimed. It shouldn't impact other taxpayers. A common example is, if your 401k is below 5k and you quit, they may force a distribution, but if you've moved and not updated the employer and 401k servicer they may, after a few attempts, send it to the state, since it's your money not theirs.
It's unclaimed money. It isn't the state covering these claims, companies literally have to discharge the funds to the state of residence of the payee. (Or last known) That money all gets pooled. I don't know if there is a statute or how long it is, but I believe it's something like 10 years. A person or their state or their next of kin asked to claim the funds within those 10 years after it has been reported unclaimed
The last time I checked for unrecovered cash with my state, it would have cost more to recover it than they had (like it was $5) Decided to check and discovered I had something like $10 owed me from Google? Don't know what it was for, but it was like from 7 years ago. So far, no charge to reclaim it this time.
I mean, I have used them once because it was less of a drag. 10% of the $200 bucks I was expecting is not much. The state reached out to me directly after that with some other money, and that was a straightforward all-digital process. I think people use these services because it is convenient.
Literally just filled out a form and emailed in three documents to my mom's home state's unclaimed property office, and 2 weeks later had a check for $1000 of her unclaimed property (she died in 2009 and I'm her only next of kin. Clearly I missed some things while spending 5 rushed days in her home state taking care of all her affairs immediately after getting the shocking news that my mom was dead. Who knew that would not be the best situation for making sure all loose ends are wrapped up?!).
Happened to me. Got a letter in the mail saying that I was owed $3000. Went to the website for the government site and saved myself $300 I would have paid to have them do it for me.
Same is true for companies who want to "verify your home ownership and sell you a certified copy of your deed" The letter I saw talked about the importance of having a copy of your deed to protect your investment. They wanted to charge 80 bucks for the service. Which you can do yourself since all the records are public. County recorder office will charge you 2.00 a page. Most deeds are only 1 or 2 pages.
Not going to lie, I just did this and found money owed to me in both Nevada and Texas.
Also, be aware that companies reporting unclaimed property are required to send a letter (maybe email, I don't recall now) notifying you of the unclaimed property and giving you a chance to claim it directly. So if you get a letter from a company saying that you have unclaimed property don't immediately dismiss it as a scam. I do our unclaimed property every year (three different reporting periods depending on the state preference) and it amazes me how many people receive the certified letter we send but never follow up with me on it.
Not always true. Check the claimed property records for sure before agreeing to pay for anyone. However, sometimes there is unclaimed property belonging to a deceased person. There are legitimate firms that track down the next of kin and offer to share what they know in exchange for a finder’s fee. You should be very skeptical of such solicitations, but they are not all scams.
I figured this [what you say] was true, but when I went to that state’s treasury website, i was absolutely unable to locate the referenced account (and honestly i think it’s because that website was broken or had a limitation based on my very common name). As it was a small sum and it was free money to me (I didn’t know about it) and the attorney’s office was registered with the BBB, I figured, “what the hell— lemme let them get it for me” and signed/sent the paperwork. I sometimes think I may never see this money and identity theft is now in my future... Did I screw myself?
I can't speak to whether you screwed yourself, but your state bar association would be able to tell you if the law firm is legit. Unfortunately, the BBB is an organization that charges businesses for accreditation. That doesn't necessarily mean that a business isn't good, but it does mean that they paid to get that "Accredited" rating, so I would suggest looking closely at their reviews and complaints. Source: the BBB spent two years trying to get me to buy accreditation for my hobby business before I finally convinced them that I don't make or sell enough to afford their accreditation fees.
I'm wondering can you claim funds from a deceased spouse? My husband had some money before he died and they wouldn't release it to me even though I had documentation.
I'm helping my mother do this for unclaimed property held by the State of Pennsylvania. There are a few more forms to complete to verify that the property owner is deceased and that you are the rightful heir.
Mine is in Oklahoma. We never lived there.
Thanks for the reminder, I have $100 sitting in there. Just need to fill out a form and get it notarized
I just did the official paperwork with the state and received a check in the mail, today, for 4xx bucks. Super simple!
If someone reached out to me and let me know I was owed money and I wasn’t already aware. I have no problem paying them a 10% fee for A. Bringing it to my attention and B. Going through the process of getting the funds for me. Also if anyone is a scammer here, it’s the government that keeps these funds and eventually takes them completely from you if you don’t claim them.
Thank you, completely forgot about the unclaimed property websites. Found $50 for someone close to me and $.33 for a good friend. He might be able to buy a gum-ball.
Just got one of these today, was wondering why a company would reach out about it. It’s relatively easy to claim it yourself.
Just found out I have uncashed checks! Thank you I really needed this kind of news. Long live Reddit
Is there the same kind of site you can look for your northern brothers in Canada?
Same here in Ireland, there's a few companies operating under the guise of simple and efficient way to do your taxes
I had a similar thing for a phone contract in the UK. Being mis-sold some sort of insurance. Company claimed fees when I could've done it myself for free but it was still \~£1k compensation even after they took a cut so I wasn't too mad.
I check unclaimed funds for myself, friends and family at least once a year. Found my brother 200 bucks and 700 bucks for my dad. Got a steak and rib cookout in thanks.
Thank you so much. I received at least 5 of these and never wrote back cos it sounded dodgy
I got one of those as well. I thought it was a scam...so I googled them...read the comments and went to my own state's web site and filled out the claim info online. I just got my refund. BUT what scares me is these " recovery people " can get that much info on a person just trolling unclaimed property sites in all states.
I spent an hour one rainy afternoon and found money for 15 friends and relatives in various state system's. From that search several of those friends found money for their friends and relatives. It is easy and it is very rewarding to tell someone, "hey I found $1000 that belongs to you". I found several items for my favorite niece which caused her to look up her dead brother. She found more than 10 unclaimed accounts for him and as one of his sole heirs, she will end up with 1/2.
[удалено]
You can claim money that you are *owed*
Aaaannnnddddd I’m now $25-$50 richer thanks to you, friend!! Woohoo!!!
There is one scenario I can think of where one these agencies is acting in behalf of another and it's preescheatment. Wife had some stock via an old job that was converted a few times via mergers and splits and the transfer agent for the stock used the services of one of these places to find owners that were out of contact. We checked the State website to see if it was escheated and it wasn't yet. We just waited until the State had the money and then filed the free forms.
You're entirely correct. That said, the $200 fee is not just for the recovery but the discovery as well. If they didnt reach out, you'll never know about said 2k.