If you are like me, you’re always on the lookout for ways to get extra money. I think that is one of the reasons that I am attracted to things like credit card rewards and bank bonuses. One other way that I have used a couple of times is the website MissingMoney.com (not an affiliate link) to find unclaimed property. I have used it probably 4 or 5 times to find money that is already mine.
What Is MissingMoney.com?
From their “what is” page –
Unclaimed property consists of accounts and other financial assets that have been inactive for a certain period of time. Types of unclaimed property include: checking and savings accounts, uncashed payroll checks, uncashed stock dividends, insurance payments, inactive stock brokerage accounts, utility deposits, refund checks, money orders, traveler’s checks, mineral proceeds, and life insurance proceeds.
Each state and U.S. jurisdiction has an unclaimed property law that governs the length of time before a specific type of asset must be turned over to the state for safekeeping. Companies or Holders of potential unclaimed property are required by state laws to re-establish contact with the owner of the property. If attempts to contact the owner are unsuccessful, the property is transferred to the custody of the state for safekeeping and eventual return to the rightful owner.
MissingMoney facilitates the return of unclaimed money to the rightful owner by providing a multi-state platform to search for and claim forgotten funds.
How To Get Missing Money
To search for missing money of yours, simply go to MissingMoney.com and put in your name and/or business name, along with a city or state
Of course, the less common your name is, the easier this might be 🙂
It will return a list of results that match your query. Obviously the more that you can do to narrow down your search (like including your full name or city), the easier it will be to find ones that are yours
Depending on your jurisdiction, it may give more details about each result, such as the company, your address as well as an approximate amount of money that is missing.
My Experience With MissingMoney.com
As I mentioned before, I have used MissingMoney.com a few times and found money most times! I think that people like me / us, who open lots of different credit card, bank and other financial accounts, are more prone to have missing money show up. The most recent time I looked for missing money, I found 3 results for myself. Two were for $1.34 and 23 cents, but the third one was for over $500!
Once you claim the results, the site will usually email you a filled-out claim form, which you will have to turn into your state’s department of unclaimed funds. In Ohio, they have an online submission form, where I had to upload my claim form, my ID (driver’s license / SSN card) and proof that I was associated with these addresses. It generally takes about 90-120 days for the claim to be processed.
Is MissingMoney.com Legit?
Yes, this is a legitimate website that is sponsored by and endorsed by organizations like the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) and the National Association of State Treasurers. But if you are still feeling nervous, you can always go to your state’s unclaimed property website – just search it directly. The advantage of using the MissingMoney.com aggregator website is that you can easily search for multiple states and provinces at the same time.
The Bottom Line
MissingMoney.com is a website that is sponsored by over 40 U.S. states and Canadian provinces as a way to return unclaimed or “missing” money to its rightful owner. It’s fairly easy to use, legitimate and something that is worth checking in every year or so. I’ve used it several times and gotten hundreds of dollars returned to me that is rightfully mine!
Have you been able to find any of your missing money? Leave your stories in the comments below
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