The State Comptroller, whose longstanding view is that the rightful owners should claim their abandoned funds without charge, strongly encourages everyone to contact the Office of Unclaimed Funds directly to determine if we are holding funds that rightfully belong to them.

Our Office provides this information for free through the Internet, our Communication Center, mail inquiry and public outreach. There is no charge for processing claims or returning funds.

If you are interested in becoming an “Abandoned Property Location Service Provider” in New York State, or if you have been contacted by someone who claims they can help you obtain your funds held by this Office, please read the Requirements and Procedures for “Abandoned Property Location Service Providers.”

All Location Service Providers must submit claims by mail. You’ll need to provide an agreement (sample Letter of Authorization and Fee Agreement) that is signed by the owner and witnessed and acknowledged by a notary public.

Note – the maximum fee allowed by law is 15 percent of the cash or value of securities refunded. The owner must remit the fee to the provider; we will not withhold the fee from the refund.

Researching the List of Unclaimed Funds

Go to the Search for Lost Money page to search online or request to download the list here. We’ll email you a link to our secure FTP site and provide instructions to download a zipped delimited .txt file. Once downloaded, you can import the data to the application of your choice. The file is updated quarterly. You can retrieve a new file as often as you like.

The list includes the names and last-known addresses of persons or entities that may be entitled to unclaimed funds. It also indicates the nature of the property, and when and by whom the property was reported. Privacy provisions of State and Federal law do not permit the disclosure of amounts or the taxpayer identification (social security) number associated with an item.