Firstly, we have to know the basics: a government office, business and every other source that owes you money that you didn’t collect, is considered to be unclaimed. There are no websites that will help you to find your unclaimed money, but you can help yourself and use official databases to find your dollars.
1. Unclaimed money in your state
Typically, businesses money to state-run unclaimed property offices when they are not able to locate the owner of the money. The unclaimed funds that the state holds are usually coming from insurance policies, bank accounts or the government of the state you live in.
You can start your research by looking for unclaimed money with your state’s unclaimed property office. Another method is to search by using a multi-state database. If you’re moved to another state, search by using your name. Don’t forget to check how to claim your money, because every state has different rules about how to demonstrate that you are the owner.
2. Money from employers
If you have unpaid wages, there is a solution, because The Department of Labor (DOL) is able to get back your wages, if your employer didn’t respect the labor laws.
If you believe that your employer owes back wages to you, you can search some databases from DOL. Look for the ones that have the names of the people who have money waiting to be claimed. If you didn’t know, DOL can hold the unpaid wages for 3 years top.
If you have pensions from former employers, you can search for this money from companies that are no longer working or that have ended a established pension plan.
3. Money from insurance
You can search the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Life Insurance Funds database to look for unclaimed insurance money. The VA may owe some funds to current or old former policyholders or their receivers.
It is important to keep in mind that this database doesn’t include money from the Service members Group Life Insurance (SGLI) and the Veterans’ Group Life Insurance (VGLI) policies from 1965 to the present.
On the other hand, if you had an FHA-insured mortgage, you might be able to get a refund. These refunds are released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). You can look through the HUD database by searching with your FHA case number. A case number had three digits, a dash and another six digits. To understand better, here is an example: 057-457847.
