Senator Ritchie Works to Reunite Owners to Their ‘Lost Funds’

$15.5 Million Awaits 57,000 in Jefferson, Oswego, St. Lawrence Counties Local Governments are Missing Money Too

State Senator Patty Ritchie is working to reunite 57,000 Northern and Central New York residents—and some area local governments—with money they may not even know they were missing.

CLICK HERE TO START YOUR SEARCH

At Senator Ritchie’s request, the state Office of Unclaimed Funds created a list of abandoned or forgotten accounts—usually old bank accounts, rent or utility deposits, gift cards and other type of accounts—that the state is holding with owners’ addresses in the three counties she represents.

“By law, the state holds onto the funds in these accounts until they are claimed by their rightful owners,” Senator Ritchie said. “The problem is that most people don’t even know that they are missing money, and they don’t know where to look to find it.”

“It’s your money—you just have to ask for it back.”

In Senator Ritchie’s district, the state is holding the following:

      Jefferson County: 25,797 accounts, valued at $6,439, 645

      Oswego County:  20,405 accounts, valued at $6,201,676

      St. Lawrence County: 10,385 accounts, valued at $2,823,847

Each account holds a minimum of $25. The accompanying chart includes a further breakdown of accounts by town. CLICK HERE

Additionally, Senator Ritchie requested a list of local governments in the three counties CLICK HERE that might be owed money from the state, and located accounts for 58 counties, cities, towns and villages in the region, valued at more than $71,000.

Senator Ritchie already has contacted every municipality on the list to make them aware that they may be owed money, and is reaching out to constituents, through the media, by email and other means, to urge them to check for lost accounts through a special link on her website,