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February 22, 2013

Public entities may have monies being held in the State Comptroller's Abandoned Property Fund


Public entities may have monies being held in the State Comptroller's Abandoned Property Fund

The State’s Abandoned Property Law requires banks, insurance companies, utilities, and other businesses to turn dormant savings accounts, unclaimed insurance and stock dividends, and other inactive holdings over to the State. If there has been no activity in the account for a set period of time, usually between two and five years, the money or property is considered unclaimed or abandoned. Although Section 1402 of the Abandoned Property Law has a $20 threshold for such listing, the Comptroller uses a "$50 threshold” for the listings on his Internet website.

In these times of financial difficulties, every penny counts -- so below is a sample listing of various public entities currently listed as having monies being held by the State Comptroller in the Abandoned Property Fund and which may be claimed by the rightful owner. The Comptroller's dedicated web site for making such searches is at: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/ouf/index.htm    

How much money is being held in the Fund? Twelve Billion Dollars, give or take a few million.

A search of the Comptroller web site at for “nys dep” resulted in 15 matches, included those listed below. 


Name
Address
Reported By
ROPES & GRAY LLP

STATE FARM FIRE & CASUALTY CO

NATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC

Other public employers and employee organizations are listed by the Comptroller as having monies being held in the Abandoned Property Fund as well, although it may take some detective work as the organization’s “official name” may not be the one being used by the depositing organization. 

For example, a search for “County of” resulted in 129 matches such as:



EMPIRE BLUE CROSS & BLUE SHIELD

NATIONWIDE RETIREMENT SOLUTIONS 

TELECHECK SERVICES INC

A search by county name is also possible, such as the following results using the search term “Yates Co”-



SUBURBAN PROPANE PARTNERS LP

AMERIGAS PROPANE LP

PEARSON EDUCATION INC

TRAVELERS INDEMNITY CO

MERCHANTS MUTUAL INSURANCE CO


A search for 'BOCES' resulted in 26 matches, some of which are listed below.



VERIZON WIRELESS

NEW YORK TELEPHONE CO

COCA COLA ENTERPRISES INC

AT&T CORP

TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT CO L P

while a search using “school district” resulted in the following “hits:”



SHAKLEE U S LLC

EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE

NEW YORK TELEPHONE CO

EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE

and there were four matches for “union free school” –


HEWLETT PACKARD CO

PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE CO OF AMERICA

AETNA LIFE INSURANCE & ANNUITY CO

CHEMTURA CORP


Searching  for “Town of” produced 366 matches, including:



CITIBANK NEW YORK STATE

HSBC FINANCE CORP

CDW LLC

EDP RENEWABLES NORTH AMERICA L

while a search for “Town clerk” produced 2 matches:



NEW YORK TELEPHONE

CITIBANK NA NATIONAL COMPLIANCE GRP

A search using the term “village of” resulted in 155 matches including:



EXCELLUS HEALTH PLAN INC

TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT CO L P

ALFRED UNIVERSITY

GALLS LLC

Public employee organizationshaving funds held by the Comptroller include:



STATE OF CALIFORNIA

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL INC

COCA COLA REFRESHMENTS USA INC

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL INC

VERIZON NEW YORK INC

and



UNITED STATES LIFE INSURANCE CO

CITIBANK N A

SAM ASH MUSIC CORPORATION

BANKERS TRUST CO



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NYPPL Blogger Harvey Randall served as Principal Attorney, New York State Department of Civil Service; Director of Personnel, SUNY Central Administration; Director of Research, Governor’s Office of Employee Relations; and Staff Judge Advocate General, New York Guard. Consistent with the Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations, the material posted to this blog is presented with the understanding that neither the publisher nor NYPPL and, or, its staff and contributors are providing legal advice to the reader and in the event legal or other expert assistance is needed, the reader is urged to seek such advice from a knowledgeable professional.
New York Public Personnel Law. Email: publications@nycap.rr.com