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What is missing money.com? Thousands of people everyday search for how to make extra money, Wouldn’t it be nice if you searched and found out that your state was just holding onto thousands of dollars that belong to you? It’s not a bad idea to search for missing money, and many people can find missing money that the government and other companies owe to them at www.missingmoney.com.

You can look for lost money in your own name as well at the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administration’s (NAUPA) website. MissingMoney.com is NAUPA’s comprehensive national database that was established in 1999 to help the states inform citizens about unclaimed property. The website will also tell you the procedure and who to contact to begin the claims process. see missingmoney.com main search.cfm

Missingmoney.com allows you to search through a database of states’ unclaimed property departments to see if any of your money is being held by a state. Go to wwwmissingmoney.com to see if your name shows up, but beware of membership fees. You should also know that most states have a website that allows you to search for unclaimed property and instructs you how to claim it, all with no fees. Another source is the NAUPA at unclaimed org www.unclaimed.org, which has links to those state websites mentioned.

Most states have laws regarding abandoned or “unclaimed” property. If you have a bank account, missingmoney, or a refund from your power company for overpayment, but you move out of state and never claim the money, then those companies have to turn those funds over to the state after a certain amount of time. The state holds the money for a number of years, and if it remains unclaimed, eventually it escheats to the state.

missingmoney com does not have all claims

Read their own FAQ: http://www.missingmoney.com/GeneralHelp/FAQ.cfm#Search6

Plus, they also do not have a comprehensive site as all states are not represented.

Each state now has it’s own website. Some better than others of course.

What I have found interesting is anytime there is a national feature on unclaimed money and property, many states which have natural rankings in the search engines suddenly disappear. You can also check pbgc at pbgc.gov, for unclaimed money.

Some of the most common types of unclaimed property that can be lost and then found are bank accounts and safe deposit box contents, stock certificates, mutual funds, bonds, dividends, uncashed checks and wages, insurance policies, CD’s, trust funds, utility deposits, escrow accounts, and others. Many people, especially professionals who move around from job to job every few years open bank accounts and conduct transactions throughout the country. Do you have money in an old savings account that you might have forgotten about?

This article was in followup to You might be Rich - Dateline.msnbc.com