There may be money that is yours but you do not know about it.

Or, you may have qualified for funds but they never reached you.

In these cases, you have unclaimed money that needs to be claimed.

Unclaimed money comes in a variety of forms such as uncashed checks, refunds, property, and investments.

A recent estimate stated that in the United States there is over $20 billion in unclaimed money.

Read more to find out what unclaimed money is and how to claim it.

 

What is Unclaimed Money?

Unclaimed money is any payment that the government, business, or another organization owes you but you did not receive. It could be a tax refund or another benefit that for one reason or another, you did not get to collect.

To claim unclaimed money, you will need to do some research because there is not one government source to collect the funds. There is not one centralized database for unclaimed funds but many different ones for various types of unclaimed money.

To get started, you will need to determine the money, asset, or property that you wish to claim, the date you expected to get those funds, and which government agency was responsible. Each government agency retains its own records, and each claim needs to be submitted to the appropriate location.

The Bureau of the Fiscal Service issues payments for federal agencies but is not the place to contact. Below are some of the most common agencies for collecting unclaimed money.

 

Main Types of Unclaimed Money

The states are one of the most common sources of unclaimed money. The state government, for example, may have a tax refund that you did not receive.

To find out about these unclaimed funds, you should search through the website of a specific state’s property office. You can also go to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators’ website and use the interactive map provided. If the funds are related to property, you can also use MissingMoney.com to find unclaimed amounts.

Federal-level tax unclaimed funds go through the Internal Review Service. You can visit the IRS website and enter your Social Security or taxpayer ID number to check if you have an owed refund.

Unclaimed money may also be related to wages or back pay. If that is the case, you can search the Department of Labor database to find money that an employer owes you. The search function on this website allows you to find an employer, enter information, and efficiently send documentation.

Likewise, you may be owed pension funds. For this unclaimed money, you can contact the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. This agency was established to protect retirement incomes and indicates that over 80,000 people have not claimed pension funds due to them.

 

Unclaimed Investments, Mortgage Insurance Refunds, and Bankruptcy Funds

Investments and mortgage insurance refunds are two additional categories that represent unclaimed funds. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) database is the top option to search for what is referred to as SEC enforcement funds.

The SEC may have secured funds from an investment enforcement case and have money for harmed investors. This agency’s website lists cases that claimants were involved in and a separate link for private class action investment funds.

Investment money may also be waiting to be claimed through the Treasury Hunt. This online resource provides a means to track down savings bonds and Treasury securities that have matured or missing interest payments.

If you have a Federal Housing Authority-backed mortgage, then an FHA Insurance Refund may be available to you. You can find out by searching the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) database with such information as the FHA case number, city, and state.

Unclaimed funds in bankruptcy cases are yet another avenue of unclaimed money. Federal courts hold on to these funds from such cases for those who are entitled to the money. These unclaimed funds result from uncashed distribution checks, the death of an intended recipient, and incorrect addresses.



Unclaimed money comes from several sources and requires some research into agency databases to determine if you are eligible to claim it.

To learn more about unclaimed money and to get advice about it, visit FlourishDaily.