There’s a New Yorker out there to whom $1.7 million is chump change.
Among the people entitled to a share of billions of dollars in unclaimed funds is one state resident owed a cool near-$2 million.
Maybe he or she hasn’t noticed it’s missing.
The funds are from about 30 million idle New York state accounts.
“We have some $12.5 billion of unclaimed property, but we are paying out some $1 million a day,” said Nikki Jones, deputy press secretary for the Office of the New York State Comptroller.
All the owners have to do is access an online database at www.osc.state.ny.us or call (800) 221-9311 to check for unclaimed property, then prove their identity.
It’s so simple even somebody who would misplace $1.7 million can do it.
“We have data records going back to 1943, and the claims for property never expire,” Jones said.
The average claim is usually $100 or less, she added.
“People often forget these amounts. I check the list myself. You should too,” Jones said.
One recipient of the unclaimed funds, the National Black Law Students Association, would no doubt suggest you take Jones’ advice seriously.
“The comptroller’s office called us and returned $6,000 [$6,704.25, to be precise] to us. We were delighted,” said John-Raphael Pichardo, the Northeast regional treasurer of the association.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli presented the traditional bigger-than-a-Buick check to Northeast Chair Clais Daniels-Edwards and Pichardo.
The sources of the unclaimed funds are often savings or checking accounts in which there have been no activity for three years or more.
Sometimes the funds are checks for lottery winnings, which have not been cashed within 18 months. (Believe it or not, about $35,000 in lottery checks went unclaimed in 2013, state officials said.)
Officials won’t say what the $1.7 million is — whether it’s a lottery winning or dormant account. That’s to cut down on people trying to claim money that isn’t theirs — though they also make sure the claimant’s name matches the Social Security number listed for the unpaid funds.
“Claims involving estates, companies, and other complex accounts must be mailed in with a notarized signature, Social Security number, proof of connection with the account owner and the address associated with the account,” the office says.
Claiming property, if requested online, can take about a week. Mail requests take longer, Jones said, as can requests made by an estate.
Of the $12.5 billion bonanza, 33 percent is owed to bank accounts, 23 percent to corporations, 16 percent to insurance companies, 10 percent to state court funds, 3 percent to brokerages and 15 percent to others.