CONSUMER INQUIRIES

There are companies who may contact you to let you know that you have unclaimed funds. They will gladly give you information about the money but will request a fee in advance (usually $10 to $15). Unfortunately, what you get in return is an address and/or telephone number for the individual state unclaimed property office holding your funds.

Some companies also offer free websites where you can search their database for funds that might belong to you. However if you find anything under your name, the company will charge you a fee to find out who is holding those funds.

All of the information these companies try to charge you for is available to you free of charge. You can get free, up-to-date information about unclaimed funds by contacting the individual state unclaimed property offices through the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA). You can reach NAUPA on the World Wide Web at http://www.unclaimed.org/. NAUPA has a list of all the addresses and phone numbers of every state’s unclaimed property office and many states have on-line, searchable databases which can be accessed through NAUPA’s website.

If you receive a notice advising you to pay a fee for information about the unclaimed funds, let us know about it. In Ohio, it is unlawful for anyone to locate, deliver, recover, or assist in the recovery of unclaimed funds without a valid contract. The contract must fully disclose the nature and value of the funds, the amount the owner receives after fees (finders are limited to 10% of the account’s value), and the name and address of the entity holding the funds (that’s us). If you have information about someone who may not be following the law, forward the information to:

The Division of Unclaimed Funds
77 South High Street, 20th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215-6108

or e-mail us at webunfd@com.state.oh.us