Does anyone use FindMassMoney and actually get money back?

Submitted by LeslieMarston t3_xulpp4 in massachusetts

I found some money on FindMassMoney.com, specifically $159 from my deceased father-in-law that my wife is owed. I filled out all the requisite paperwork and found a form online that I got notarized as this is part of the process. Unfortunately, I was supposed to use the form that they provided me, so they rejected it. For the amount of money, $159 I haven't bothered to get the right form notarized as it is kind of a hassle, my wife and I have to go together to the bank and wait around for an hour. Now they did refund us 2 checks for amounts in the $1 dollar range. Why do they bother refunding us amounts less than $2? I would prefer they just donate it to some fund for homeless people or something.

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DumbshitOnTheRight t1_iqw5nus wrote

Yes; it's your money, and USD 159 for an hour of sitting around isn't bad.

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abat6294 t1_iqzycrm wrote

Some people value their time more highly.

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katieleehaw t1_ir05xpr wrote

Most people don’t make more than $159/hr.

It takes moments to fill out a claim.

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Siollear t1_iqw5m0y wrote

I used the equivalent in NJ and got back a few thousand dollars from a credit card settlement I totally forgot about and a class action lawsuit against a property renter I never realized even happened or that I was even a part of. I didn't have to do anything special to claim the money other than send them a picture of my drivers license, and I had a check 4 weeks later. I was very impressed by that.

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sixfootskunkplant t1_iqweta8 wrote

Huh. I just checked that link, and paypal apparently owes me money. Interesting.

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Oddone13 t1_iqwd6d9 wrote

My bank will notarize anything for me in like 5 minutes, what takes a damn hour?

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Lazy-Ad-2530 t1_iqwwcss wrote

Last year I did this and found over $600 from an old insurance refund check! Legit! It was super easy.

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cheerocc t1_iqx85q4 wrote

I tell people all the time and their initial reaction is "is it a scam?"

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PakkyT t1_iqwzmx8 wrote

"Unfortunately, I was supposed to use the form that they provided me, so they rejected it."

Well there's your answer. Yes people actually get their money back when they use the correct form.

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caffeinatedcannamom t1_iqwh9ep wrote

I don’t work for MA unclaimed property, but I do work in the industry so I have a little insight. Each state has different statutes on the minimum amount that they will advertise (put on the website) or cut a check for. Some states do give claimants the option of donating their funds to charity. Some states even absorb those funds after they are left unclaimed for a set amount of time and the appropriate efforts are made to contact the owner. But basically it’s all based on state statute, and MA is a bit strict with their requirements.

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logaruski73 t1_iqw5mje wrote

Yes; I have. Again not a lot of money. Yes, using the right numbered form is required. Notarizing is free at my bank so that was no cost.

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luvly_k t1_iqy739y wrote

Nice. I did this a few years ago nothing. After reading your post I went and looked…I have unclaimed property. They didn’t tell me how much. I wish it did, just wondering if it was worth filling out the form on the website.

Edit: Just got an email for…$7.11…lol

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shmallkined t1_iqw98pq wrote

I just filled out the forms online after seeing I had a few things unclaimed. Says they’ll email me a form. At one point do they tell you how much money you’ll be able to claim?

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Emotional-Hornet-947 t1_iqx6hkj wrote

I got an email right away with a claim form indicating the amount. (In my case, two bucks!)

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Emotional-Hornet-947 t1_iqxasui wrote

UPDATE: I did a search leaving my current address blank and also using a variant of my first name and found a hit worth almost $300... as well as other hits for relatives who have money.

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Proof-Variation7005 t1_iqwl62g wrote

I had some utility bill refund that I went through and I got a check within less than a month from filling out the form online. No notarizations or anything of the sort.

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Meflakcannon t1_iqwowz6 wrote

Yes, I got $97 back from a former employer who failed to pay me for some overtime. Its relatively minor but it took about 5 minutes to fill out the forms and the check was in the mail two weeks later.

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AccomplishedDiet3381 t1_iqwecmo wrote

I did twice!! One was for like $409 something and the other only in the double digits I check every yr

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jezebelrose t1_iqwtt9d wrote

My sister received a $500 last week from a job she had left 5 years ago without receiving his last paycheck

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Emotional-Hornet-947 t1_iqx1s0v wrote

Searched many years ago and found nothing -- BUT, thanks to this post, I searched again and found something to claim.

Many thanks!

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cheerocc t1_iqx6xyl wrote

I used to work for a company that actually work directly with that company, which works directly with the state Treasury department.

They're what we called unclaimed property and they're are millions of money out there that are owed to people. It could be from old bank accounts, uncashed rebate checks, insurance overpayment, old stocks, etc.....

Each state have what's called an abandonment period and it varies state to state and depending on the type of properties. For the state of MA, most things are 3 years meaning if there are no activities on that account for over three years, the state can actually claim it. Of course the companies and state will try to contact the owners before taking it. In my 10 years of working for the company, most "lost" property were due to moving and not updating their address (we'll use a few methods to try and locate an up-to-date address) or due to death where there's no next-of-kin.

I actually found my own name in the database. It was a program run by Mobil Gas where for every gallon of gas you purchased, a small percentage goes to a UFund for college (i was 19ish at the time when I signed up) After a few years, i totally forgot about it but it was still earning some money. Little did i know I had earned about $20.

Another example is i found my sister's name. It was an overpayment to her car insurance company about 15 years ago.... about $125. I found numerous friends and family names on there, ranging from $20(mine) to $500(a friend's uncashed insurance claim check).

Most people i tell about it, they think it's a scam but i tell them that's the company I work for and then they'll believe me. You do have to verify your identity and proof of ownership. If it's a deceased relative, a death certificate is needed and anything else they ask for.

I hope this helps and put you at ease that it's not a scam.

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its-a-crisis t1_iqxih0j wrote

If you happen to know the answer to this— Regarding deceased relatives, I have a deceased grandparent who has several refunds on FindMassMoney. Their immediate next-of-kin and estate executor has passed away, their next-of-kins are tits on a bill and couldn’t care less about pennies offered by the state. Do you have any idea what the process is for claiming when one isn’t the executor of an estate?

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cheerocc t1_iqygurd wrote

Not sure 100% in regards to that, but i would call them to find out more info. I know for certain cases you need to supply the death certificate and proof of relationship.

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Vegicide t1_iqxx4wl wrote

Check the website, all the info you need is provided there

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billsatori t1_iqydow1 wrote

$3 check from a Staples refund. I was not going to bother but I got sick of relatives telling me I was on the list.

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write132 t1_iqwxgt7 wrote

I found 80 dollars from and account my mom opened me a as a kid and forgot a about.

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darksideofthemoon131 t1_iqx1fkx wrote

Hey, thanks. Just entered my info and found money from my dad's estate that I didn't know existed. This is fantastic.

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agenz899 t1_iqy247q wrote

I did findmassmoney about five years ago and got back $3,500 my father was owed. Never had to notarize anything. Maybe that’s new.

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katieleehaw t1_ir06dc0 wrote

I recently filed a claim and there was nothing to notarize.

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ErkMcGurk t1_iqydk01 wrote

It was pretty simple when I did it, no notary required. But I think I had less than $100 owed to be between Comcast and an old health insurance company.

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Mr-Chewy-Biteums t1_ir0nkl1 wrote

I stumbled on to this situation at the Big E fair a number of years ago. The Massachusetts building had a booth where you could look up your name and see if there was any unclaimed $ in your name. Turns out I had $50 in some abandoned bank account from when I was a teenager and after I filled out the forms it took a couple weeks for a check to show up. I don't know if they still do that at the fair.

Since then I have helped both my parents and my brother get varying amounts back.

The only time it was ever a trouble was when my mom tried to claim $ in her parents' names. That ended up being more trouble than it was worth due to the extra steps required for heirs.

​

Thank you

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cdcyclist t1_iqwlzys wrote

They've been telling me for years now that paypal has 4000 bucks for me.

I spent hours on the phone trying to chase it down at first. It's entirely likely since I had a business attached to paypal once upon a time but that business email is long gone and I have no record of that paypal login, and can't reset the pw because the phone is also long gone where they want to send a code. Paypal claims they have no such record at all when I call them. I've given up on it but they love to keep reminding me now and then.

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princess-smartypants t1_iqxkju3 wrote

If you found this on findmassmoney, PayPal doesn't have the money anymore, they turned it over to the state in your name. Follow up with the state.

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cdcyclist t1_iqxv4gh wrote

I actually re-did the request again just for the hell of it. I can't remember how or why I got tripped up last time. I think the state was asking for some proof I couldn't provide? Maybe like a paypal statement or something. There was some reason I had to talk to paypal but we'll see.

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katieleehaw t1_ir068ky wrote

Why are you chasing it down? Did you fill out the state claim form? The process is very simple.

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cdcyclist t1_ir072oi wrote

I recall that the state required some kind of proof from paypal that I didn't have. Well it was either paypal or the bank I had connected to the paypal account. This was over a decade ago and the bank had long since been merged into some other bank. So all the records were long gone when I also tried asking the bank.

I resubmitted the claim yesterday for the hell of it. I will probably hit the same walls but we'll see.

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katieleehaw t1_ir0x65c wrote

Ah, ok. Maybe it varies. I found two things for me, neither required me to prove anything other than my identity.

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JoshSidekick t1_iqwrgs4 wrote

I checked once and it had like $4 in my name. Not quite worth it for me

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cheerocc t1_iqx7zdl wrote

That's why certain things go unclaimed. Some people will get as an example, a $1 rebate check for a product. Majority of people will find it not worth going to a bank to deposit that check so it stays in a junk drawer. Now imagine 1 million people out there with $1 uncashed checks. It adds up.

I said in my post that I used to work for a company that dealt with unclaimed property such as uncashed checks, bank account, etc... The company that we researched that had the most money that's unclaimed were insurance company such as MetLife. Tons of uncashed checks around $10 or so but there were hundreds of thousands of people. One year the amount of unclaimed property for that company was around $50 million. Crazy.

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clichetobelieve t1_iqww15p wrote

Yes, I have. There are other notaries besides the bank.

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kristo456 t1_iqwxnd5 wrote

Ups usually has a notary. Sometimes your town hall does as well if you ask the right person the right way.

I thought this Post was going to be about my first experience with findmassmoney which is where my grandmother's name was listed as having money, we went through the process and my parents had never probated her estate because she had no assets, so we had to pay an attorney to do so years after her death, and any money that she was to receive was seized by the Commonwealth (justifiably and rightfully so) for Medicaid costs she accumulated during life, so we got nothing for our troubles.

I myself had $50 with them from my college which I received once I filled out the form and it was super easy

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Alacri-Tea t1_iqwzm6b wrote

Yup. Very easy. I filled out their simple form and and took a couple weeks until I got a check.

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zerovian t1_iqx41yu wrote

Yes. several years ago, the registration for some paper stock got lost during the transition to all electronic recording back in 2011. Took quite a few more steps to sort it out, but it was listed and registered to me at my old address.

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itsgreater9000 t1_iqx68tw wrote

yep, had a family member use it and get the money back and was told it was a painless process. i keep checking if someone owes me money, but all i find is that i owe my bills money...

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punkmucker t1_iqx7suq wrote

i looked myself up once, found my cousins. told him. he got back some escrow interest from an old landlord

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LowkeyPony t1_iqxabnn wrote

Yes actually. I didn't get much, but it seems I had a savings account that had been sitting collecting interest since 1994. Wasn't closed properly and I had moved. My husband got nearly $100 from something he had somewhere. LOL I was really surprised.

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proto-kaiser t1_iqxk4le wrote

I did this recently. I received a check for a whopping $2!!! My sister got $1, not sure about the rest of my family.

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princess-smartypants t1_iqxk4w2 wrote

Most town clerks are notaries. If you live in a smaller town, the wait should be minimal. You can also ask on your neighborhood Facebook or next door if someone can meet you.

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MrMcSwifty t1_iqxk55k wrote

I just ran my name and found money in an old DCU account. E-mail says it's $4.79 (lol) though I'm not sure how that's possible since the minimum to open a savings account was like 50 or 100 bucks, and I never touched the account after opening it. Oh well. It's a free ice coffee I guess, so whatever.

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HoneyBun21222 t1_iqxkz3y wrote

I just looked on this site and found my parents names associated with our old home (where no one in my family has lived for over 10 years). If it's not their current address is it still money they're owed? I'd never heard of this until seeing your post.

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Vegicide t1_iqxx0ig wrote

Yes. Current address doesn’t matter

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Voyyagr t1_iqxn8mp wrote

Comcast owes me 83 cents in the state of Connecticut. It’s not quite the windfall I had hoped for.

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Teacherman6 t1_iqxokx9 wrote

I found like $95 for my wife on there.

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Undecidedbutsure t1_iqxrw6m wrote

Yes, I had a few thousand. This was also how I found out if you don’t use a bank account for X amount of years they close it and send the balance to the state.

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spiked_macaroon t1_iqxu5l0 wrote

Yeah, I got a few hundred bucks back that was put in a retirement account from a job I had for the city when I was a kid.

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JimmyJames008 t1_iqxxox5 wrote

Took a few months, but got it eventually.

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sailboat198476 t1_iqxzq6l wrote

I got 39$ once from a shift I worked at a McDonald's when I was a kid. One day and I never walked back in. Told them to keep the check.

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detective_bigfoot t1_iqxzwrk wrote

We found a few hundred owed to my late grandmother a few months ago.

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Artvandelay2019 t1_iqy1a3k wrote

Is there a way to see how much is owed or do you have to go through the whole process to find out?

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Puzzleheaded_Ad_7204 t1_iqy5uy5 wrote

I’ve found money for myself in my homeland of NJ years ago after I lived here and found money in Mass for my brother years after he moved back.

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kethera__ t1_iqyghtt wrote

I got a check for $16 lol

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NorthEasternDunes t1_iqyit9q wrote

My uncle had a $20,000 inheritance on there lol. I dont know the details but he was able to get it rather quickly once he claimed it.

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friz_CHAMP t1_iqyvf93 wrote

Oh shit... I just found out my dad has a secret savings account! My mom was right to be suspicious about what he was doing with his money.

Oh man... shit is going to get spicy in my family!

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katieleehaw t1_ir05vjz wrote

I did it a couple of months ago and am waiting for a check.

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Basic_Necessary_74 t1_ir0efwa wrote

I did! Had almost 1k in insurance refunds and something else was 150ish. It was a nice surprise.

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Easy-Progress8252 t1_ir0pytf wrote

Yes, got $$ back and it wasn’t harder than renewing a license or getting a passport.

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Powerful-Ad1325 t1_iqwrazu wrote

Yes, I got around $200 from an old refinance on a house…it was def a pain

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