How To Claim Unclaimed Property

In our quest to travel the world for pennies on the dollar we do some weird things. We try to make a buck, or save a buck, wherever we can. That is because a dollar saved, or a dollar earned, is another dollar we have for travel. We buy discounted gift cards, grab bank bonuses and take advantage of promotions wherever we can. Sometimes, we will go too far and spend a month living off discount gift cards! What happens if you lose track of things and something gets left behind though? That is why you need to know how to claim unclaimed property. Each state in the union is sitting on millions of dollars worth of this unclaimed property, and some of it could be yours!

What Is Unclaimed Property?

By law, each state is required to hold onto lost funds that people have left behind. Most of these funds are things people don't even realize they are owed and have completely forgotten about. It could be from a dormant checking account, unused gift card, abandoned safety deposit boxes, a refund from a vendor and so on. These amounts total in the millions for each state, and billions of dollars overall.

The law requires these companies to hand over the property after a certain amount of time has passed. The state sits on this property until it is rightfully claimed by the person who owns it, or one of their heirs. The cool thing is they make it fairly easy to check if you are owed anything, with each state having a website dedicated to just that. All you need to do is check your information in any state you have lived in, and it will tell you if you have any money / property waiting for you.

How To Claim Unclaimed Property In Each State

Here is a link to each state's website that will help you claim unclaimed property. Just input your personal information and check if you are owed anything. I check this once a year or so. I will even do it for my extended family since you can search by surname.

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Puerto Rico
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Virgin Islands
• Washington
• Washington D.C.
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

My Personal Experience

I have known about checking for unclaimed property for a few years now, but nothing has ever popped on my searches. That changed a bit last week when I received a letter saying that some gift cards I bought in 2016 were about to be turned over to the state. They were purchased online and facilitated by Blackhawk Network, a large gift card distributor. Since I purchased these online, while logged into my account, they were able to track me down. If I had purchased them at a store etc. then they would likely not be able to track me down.

The letter stated that there were a few gift cards that were never redeemed from one of my previous orders. I needed to claim them over the next month or they would be turned over to the state. A preemptive notice before they become official unclaimed property stored with the state essentially.

I went through the steps to say that they were in fact my gift cards, and after a day or so I received an email with a link to a new gift card for the amounts. The unclaimed property was store branded gift cards but I was reimbursed with virtual Mastercard gift cards. That is about as good as it gets, especially since I likely bought these store cards at a 10% – 15% discount. It was an unexpected turn of events that put a few hundred dollars back in my pocket, so I am not complaining.

Find Out If You Are Owed Money: ToP Thoughts

Since we like to dabble in discount deals, bank account bonus offers and a whole bunch of other stuff, I figured this was worth bringing people's attention to. Run through your state(s) unclaimed property site to see if you are owed anything. It should be fairly easy to claim and you might have some extra cash you weren't expecting.

I plan on using my new found fortunes on our upcoming trip to Hawaii. Thanks to this unclaimed property claim I will be able to pay for a dinner or two on our trip. Now that you know how to claim unclaimed property you may be able to do something similar yourself.

If you find any missing money be sure to let us know over in the ToP Facebook Group.