The Magic of Unclaimed Property: How I Made $1,900 in 10 Minutes by Being a Disorganized Mess
Spoiler alert, kids: almost nothing worth doing can be done quickly or easily. By definition, people only seek quick and easy solutions to long and hard problems! “One cool trick” ads ain’t out there saving lives.
The same is absolutely true for money as well. If it could grow on trees, there’d be a fuck ton more arborists. Alas, currency is a scarce commodity that’s difficult and time-consuming to accumulate by its very nature.
I say all of this so that you understand how shocked I am to be writing an article with this headline… and meaning every word of it.
I just made $1,900 very quickly and very easily. And you may be able to make money in the exact same way—but it only works if you are as irresponsible and disorganized as I am.
Intrigued? Mwa ha ha! … good.
Let’s say you move into your first apartment and plop down a $500 security deposit.
Years pass. You eventually get a new job, move to a new city, and leave your old apartment behind. And you didn’t provide your old landlords with your new address, so the rental management company has no idea where to send your $500 check.
By law, the rental company can’t just keep your money. They must turn it over to the State Treasurer. The Treasurer keeps a record of to whom the money belongs. If that person reappears and proves their identity, the Treasury will cut them a check for the missing money.
Uh, real common! About one in ten people have unclaimed property.
The money may not even be yours! If you’ve inherited an estate (from the passing of, say, a parent or grandparent), your deceased family member could have unclaimed property. As their heir, you’re entitled to it.
So wait—how do I know if I have unclaimed property?
Y’all. It’s so fucking simple I kinda wanna cry…
You go to the official website of the Treasury Department of your state. Then you type in your first and last name, and hit search.
You can Google your state’s name, plus the term “unclaimed property.” Or check out this handy list from Unclaimed.org.
WARNING: be extra careful that you’re actually clicking on a legit link! It really doesn’t help that 100% of these websites are suspiciously ugly and badly designed. So always follow the link directly from a reputable source.