How to find unclaimed money – free resources, tips, and what money you might be owed
Millions of Americans have unclaimed money and retrieving those funds would be very beneficial for people with a limited income. It’s completely free to search for and claim money that may be logged in government databases, refunds from utility deposits, and other sources. This “lost” cash can be anything from a few dollars to thousands. Below is a detailed guide on the best free places to check, the types of unclaimed money that may be available, and what you need to know before claiming it.
What Is Unclaimed Money?
Unclaimed money (sometimes called unclaimed property) is any financial asset that has been abandoned, forgotten, or left inactive for a set period of time - usually one to five years. When the owner cannot be contacted, the funds are turned over to a state or federal agency until the rightful owner claims them. Typical examples include:
- Old savings or checking accounts that were closed without withdrawing the remaining balance
- Uncashed paychecks or vendor checks
- Refunds from utility deposits
- Social security benefits, including unclaimed money from survivor benefits, SSI, and other.
- Insurance policy payouts, including life insurance, that were never collected
- Forgotten retirement accounts (401(k), pension funds)
- Trust distributions or inheritance money
- Tax refunds that were never delivered
- Safe deposit box contents from banks
- Security deposits from landlords or service providers
While the process to search for funds from any of the above is free to do, it does take a little time and effort. As undauntedly there's no single nationwide database that contains all unclaimed money. To be thorough, you’ll need to check multiple sources, depending on where you’ve lived, worked, or done business. All you need to do is to go to the website of the agency concerned. Some require social security numbers - some don’t. Then look up your name on their list, fill out a claim form, have it notarized, provide ID, and retrieve the missing assets.
The best free government oriented places to search for unclaimed money
The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, which is the is the authoritative organization behind unclaimed property programs in the U.S. and several international jurisdictions, has said that it holds billions of dollars' worth of unclaimed assets, including cash. Every state has its own repository. These assets may include unclaimed bank deposits, stock market holdings, insurance money, retirement funds or benefits, and security deposits, among other things. They may also include money from the sale of unclaimed stocks and bonds, and safe deposit boxes.
- When you wish to look for unclaimed property that you may be entitled to, you only need to go to the website of the NAUPA at unclaimed.org. You could also go to the unclaimed property website for your state.
The Social Security Administration may have unclaimed money in your name as well. Maybe it is cash from survivor benefits or SSI disability. Or maybe it is social security retirement funds or checks that were lost or never cashed. Or it can be public assistance that was due to a low income family. Regardless, the SSA is another place to look for free, unclaimed funds. Search the SSA for unclaimed funds.
Unclaimed money can come from the federal government HUD agency as well. HUD’s refund search is one of few federal tools directly searchable by consumer name, specifically for housing‑related refunds, unlike Treasury Hunt or IRS which may require additional identifiers. Many low income families use government assisted housing, such as section 8 or maybe transitional housing. The federal government may owe you free money for a rental or utility deposit, overpaid rent, fee reimbursements and more. The best place to search is the HUD database.
Every U.S. state and Puerto Rico operate official unclaimed property programs. Each state has at least one unclaimed property pffice. NAUPA / MissingMoney.com is the official, government-endorsed portal to search participating states all at once, free of charge. The website is Missing Money. It is possible to both search the site as well as file a claim.
Cash in old savings bonds may be in your name. Whether you have a matured US savings bond to your name, or have inherited one that you never managed to cash or did not even know about, the search tool on the website of the US Treasury Department at treasurydirect.gov/indiv/tools/tools_treasuryhunt.htm could be a good place to start your search. You can either fill out a form for free that you download from the website and mail it in, or, if it's a bond issued before 1974 that you need to claim on, supply the owner's Social Security number and other documentation.
Claim your tax refund that maybe was lost or never paid for free. When IRS refund checks go back because they are undeliverable, or become missing in the mail, the money isn't lost. If you believe that you may have an unclaimed refund to your name from the previous year or even going back multiple years, you could search for it (using your social security number) with the Where's My Refund tool on the website of the IRS at irs.gov/refunds.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. is a federal corporation whose function it is to insure and protect pension benefit plans as well as retirement benefits put in place by private employers. If your former employer offered a pension plan that you lost track of, or if a retirement account went dormant:, you could look for the company's pension fund on the website of the PBGC at pbgc.gov/search-unclaimed-pensions. You may find some free money there in your name, parents, your spouses or family members.
- You could discover that you have claimable pension funds to your name. You can also search for free money or benefits from the database of the National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits for other kinds of retirement benefits - 401(k)s, IRAs, and so on. Look for retirement benefits.
 If you have invested in the past (in individual “investment” accounts or retirement accounts), there are cases in which companies, mutual funds, and corporations get sued and anyone who invested into these investments is due money. Some of this may be a class action lawsuit too. Search for free on the SEC.
Other more specialized sources exist for unclaimed money too. The process for each varies. It may be possible to use your name or SSN or other information. Each of these databases is also free to use though.
- Unpaid Wages is available from the U.S. Department of Labor - Wage and Hour Division. This will log wages collected from employers but not claimed with the website to look in here. https://webapps.dol.gov/wow/
- U.S. Railroad Retirement Board will be for both people who worked in the industry and/or their spouses or kids. The site to search, for free is here. https://rrb.gov/Benefits/myRRB.
- Foreign Claims Settlement Commission is similar to some of the options above, but it can find money that was not claimed from say class action lawsuits or settlements awarded to U.S. citizens from international organizations. The site is https://www.justice.gov/fcsc.
- Bureau of Indian Affairs / Office of Special Trustee tracks unpaid money as well. This will be any funds due from Individual Indian Money (IIM) account funds. The site is here https://www.doi.gov/ost/search-unclaimed-accounts.
- U.S. Bankruptcy Courts track funds as well. The database will list bankruptcy case distributions owed to creditors. While not as often individual focused, it can be possible to find assets there too at https://ucf.uscourts.gov/.
Find unclaimed money due to you from a private company
You may have money in your name if your bank or credit union closed and you never withdrew your balance Some banks are shut down by the authorities for various regulatory reasons. Or they merge or a local branch near you goes out of business. If you had a long-forgotten account in such a bank at some point, the money in it could be covered by the FDIC. You could look on the FDIC's free website at for information on money in banks closed between 1989 and 1993.
Unclaimed funds may be available from Class Action Lawsuits. For better or worse, America is a litigious country. There are countless class action lawsuits, and you may have free unclaimed money in your name from them as well. Regardless, you may have money in your name or maybe free refunds or rebates you can claim that were the result of a class action settlement. Sometimes the companies have your information, sometimes you need to file a claim. But you can search for rebates or cash you are due from class action lawsuits. Another place to track lawsuits and claims is here at a consumer action website.
Tips for searching for free unclaimed money
Each company, bank, pension plan, etc. may use a different variation of your name. Maybe it was even done in error. For example, if your name is Jonathan, maybe search for Jon, John, Johnathan, and different variations of your name. The same concept applies to spellings of last names. This will improve your chances of finding free money in your name.
There are a number of scams in the “unclaimed money” search process. Be wary of them. Never pay money to search a site. Be wary of what information you provide and who you provide it too, including your social security number(s). Never sign up for monthly subscription services. We also have a list of other ways to identify and safeguard against scams, both for unclaimed money and everything else in life.
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