I originally published this post in July 2005 but recently updated all the links to the correct state Unclaimed Property division website.

If you’ve ever rented an apartment, you’ve left a deposit… but did you get that back before you left? They said they’d mail it… but did you actually get it? How about the utility company, did you get your deposit back from them? What about those six months you lived in another state, were you entitled to a state income tax refund? Did you actually get it? Unclaimed or abandoned property departments exist in every state and through free online searches you can find a ton of money you may have inadvertently left behind. I haven’t lived in enough places to have left behind any hard earned cash (I looked, no luck though) but you might have.

Below is a comprehensive list of every state’s (even D.C. and Puerto Rico) website that has a search for unclaimed property. Take a few minutes and see if you’ve discovered any cash and leave a comment if you do! I didn’t find any but perhaps you can find a nice fat check somewhere with your name on it.

(Click to continue reading…)

MissingMoney.com lately? If you haven’t take about fifteen seconds to do a quick search for yourself and you might be pleasantly surprised. I looked about a year or two ago and didn’t see anything, I just looked again and discovered that I had about a hundred bucks floating around somewhere in the halls of Pennsylvania’s Department of the Treasury!

The most surprising part was seeing my name next to my address from college, brought back some fond memories! Apparently I had a rebate from “Best Buy Co Inc.” for “under $100!” (everything is listed as under or over $100 or Unknown) I did this a few years ago and found no money, so imagine my surprise to find “under $100″ somewhere. Back in college, I bought a lot of stuff for free after rebate in order to sell in on eBay. I was mostly diligent though from time to time things did slip through the cracks. This rebate is obviously one of those slips so it’s a nice little treat to discover I had some money coming my way (hopefully!).

The property date was listed as 12/06/2002 but the “missing money” wasn’t reported until April 21st, of this year. So, if you haven’t checked lately, I recommend you do.

With Pennsylvania, you have to visit the Pennsylvania Treasury site and re-enter your information (just first and last name). A list will appear, you select your unclaimed property, fill out some information to auto-populate the claim form, and then print out the form.

From here, I think each state has different requirements to prove that you are the owner of the property. In Pennsylvania, I will have to submit a copy of my driver’s license or signed social security card (I’ll be going with the license) as well as a signed Affidavit and Indemnification Agreement because I don’t have proof of the property (rebate) and because the property is valued above $25.

I hope this isn’t a rebate for $5…

(Photo: refractedmoments)

CNN/Money. On average the government owes each one of them $871 and has a site you can visit to check the status of your refund. You must have handy your social security number, your date of birth, and the exact amount of your refund. If you don’t like using the internet, you can call also 1-800-829-1040 to check on your refund.

To check up on other places where you might have left money, read how you can search for unclaimed money and property for free.

(Photo: refractedmoments)