For decades, unclaimed funds programs across the country have faced the same frustrating challenge: How do you reunite people with their lost money quickly, securely and efficiently? Too often, rightful owners never came forward and filed claims because the process was unknown to them or confusing. Today, that is changing and New York is one of the state’s leading the way.
Advances in data matching, verification technology, and demographic tools now allow states to identify people more accurately, confirm rightful ownership with greater confidence, and safely return smaller amounts of lost money automatically — without requiring individuals to file claims and navigate bureaucracy. New York has embraced that opportunity in a smart and deliberate way, creating a model for how government can modernize while still protecting the rightful owners of this money and preventing fraud.
Under my watch, the Office of Unclaimed Funds has modernized its unclaimed funds system with a simple but powerful idea: if the state can verify who owns the money, we can return small dollar claims to the rightful owners automatically. The results speak for themselves.
Since launching the Expedited Payment Program in January 2025, my office has returned $50 million directly to New Yorkers through over 210,000 expedited checks in the mail. The average payment is $229. My office already returns more lost money to individuals than any other state in the nation – returning more than $2 million in unclaimed funds every day. But the possibilities this new program creates are remarkable.
Because the first year has been so successful, my office is now responsibly expanding the program. The automatic payment threshold is increasing from $250 to up to $5,000 — a significant step that will help more working families, seniors, and small businesses recover money that is rightfully theirs without burdensome red tape.
This is exactly what smart government should look like.
The program works because it balances efficiency with safeguards. Before any payment is issued, the State Comptroller’s office conducts rigorous verification procedures to ensure funds are going to the rightful owner. Recipients receive notification letters in the mail before checks arrive. Individuals can also independently verify checks online through the State Comptroller’s office. Fraud prevention and accountability remain central to the process.
Importantly, we did not rush into this expansion recklessly. My office first tested the concept with a smaller cap in 2025, carefully evaluated the results, and only then moved to broaden eligibility in 2026. That deliberate approach matters. Government innovation works best when it is measured, data-driven, and focused on public trust.
The legislation that I asked for authorizing the program — sponsored by Senator Luis Sepúlveda and Assemblymember John T. McDonald III — recognized a basic truth: government should not make people jump through hoops to reclaim their own property when ownership can already be verified through existing records.
At a time when many Americans are skeptical of government competence, this program offers a different model. It shows that state government can modernize operations, reduce bureaucracy, and deliver tangible benefits directly to residents.
And New York’s leadership could not come at a more important moment.
Across the country, state unclaimed property programs collectively safeguard hundreds of billions of dollars belonging to residents. These programs exist for a reason: to protect consumers when financial institutions, corporations, utilities, or other entities lose contact with account holders. States serve as custodians until owners can be reunited with their money.
But there is growing concern that federal policymakers will pursue changes that could weaken states’ authority to administer these programs effectively or make it harder for states to ensure companies properly turn over abandoned funds in the first place. That would be a mistake.
States are closest to their residents and best positioned to administer unclaimed property programs responsibly. New York’s experience demonstrates that states can both protect consumers and modernize delivery systems without sacrificing oversight or accountability.
Weakening state enforcement authority would not help consumers. It would primarily benefit corporations that fail to return money to rightful owners. Strong state enforcement ensures companies comply with the law and turn over abandoned assets so those funds can eventually be reunited with individuals, nonprofits, municipalities, and businesses that own them.
In fact, New York’s success argues for expanding state innovation — not limiting it.
As technology improves and verification systems become more sophisticated, states should have the flexibility to continue streamlining the claims process and proactively returning more money to residents. That may include expanding automatic payments further over time, increasing interstate cooperation to identify owners, holding companies accountable to turn over money or using modern data tools to reconnect people with long-forgotten accounts.
The key is to move carefully and responsibly, exactly as New York has done.
At a time when inflation and rising living costs continue to strain household budgets, returning even a few hundred or few thousand dollars can make a real difference for families trying to pay utility bills, buy groceries, cover rent, or save for emergencies. And perhaps just as importantly, programs like this help restore public confidence that government can still solve practical problems in practical ways.
New York is showing the country that unclaimed funds reform does not have to be ideological. It can simply be effective.