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Unclaimed Money Lookup -
North Carolina
Free North Carolina Unclaimed Money Lookup
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We receive referral fees from partners (advertising disclosure)
The information we provide you is free of charge and a result of extensive research by our home warranty experts. We use affiliate links on our site that provide us with referral commissions. While this fact may not influence the information we provide, it may affect the positioning of this information.
North Carolina Unclaimed Money -
The Ultimate Guide 2022
- UPDATED July 2022
Might you be looking for your unclaimed funds or property in the state of North Carolina and you have zero clue on where to start? Don’t worry. Today, we’ll take you through a detailed guide of how you can access the NC database and get your property back.
Contents
- North Carolina NCCash Match Program
- Unclaimed Money (Property) Defined
- What is the Value of Unclaimed Property (Money) in North Carolina?
- Required Documentation
- How to Conduct the Search for Unclaimed Property in North Carolina
- Holder Information & Reporting
- Unclaimed Property Laws in North Carolina
- What attempts are made to find the rightful owners?
North Carolina NCCash Match Program
This relatively recent Department of State Treasurer (DST) initiative aims to improve the return process of millions of funds to their legal owners in a seamless manner that is absolutely free! With this match program, unclaimed asset owners need not take any action in order to get their funds. North Carolina Untaken Funds Division will be required to research records in a bit to identify all the qualifying claims that amount to $250 or below. Every week, notifications will be sent to the respective claimants via mail, with the check being issued out in 6 to 8 weeks.
The claims requests are processed in the order in which they come in. The standard processing time is roughly 90 days. However, given the huge volume of claims received, the processing time can go a little over 90 days. Once a claim is assigned to a claims processor, they usually contact claimants in case they need further documentation or information. Once the claim is approved, you will get an email notification.
Unclaimed Money (Property) Defined
Unclaimed assets in North Carolina consist of utility deposits, bank user accounts, active insurance policy proceeds, wages, bonds, stocks, and contents in safe deposit boxes that have typically been abandoned for a period of 1-5 years. Funds may become unclaimed if a company loses track of their consumers due to missing information or provision of a wrong address. North Carolina state laws require that the funds are either turned over or escheated to the Department of State Treasurer for them to be kept safely. As new funds get added, the Cash database is updated.
What is the Value of Unclaimed Property (Money) in North Carolina?
In North Carolina, the unclaimed property is valued at approximately $920 million. The unclaimed property fund holds millions of dollars waiting for claimants to make requests regarding their unclaimed property. This is cumulatively from goods, stocks, unclaimed cash and so many other assets. All you need to do is head on over to NCCASH.com and check if you have any unclaimed property.
Required Documentation
All documentation and claim forms should be submitted to the:
Unclaimed Property Division
PO Box 20431
Raleigh, NC 27619-0431
Proof of Ownership
The following documents suffice to provide ownership on the unclaimed funds claim form:
1. Proof of your Social Security Number
Any document that shows your social security number is okay. These include:
- Social Security Card
- W-2 form
- Income tax form
- Insurance card
- Pay stub
- Bank statement
2. Proof of the FEIN (Federal Employer Identification Number) assigned to your personal business
A copy of any legal and legit document that shows your FEIN will suffice. Such include:
- An IRS "Letter of Confirmation" that shows assignment of the FEIN
A copy of received tax statement including:
- IRS Form 1098, statement of interest paid
- IRS Form 1099-INT/ 1099-DIV, statement of dividends or interest earned
- IRS assignment of FEIN (internet confirmation page)
3. Proof of Address
A copy of legal documents that show your name and specific physical address including:
- Driver license
- Employment application
- W-2 form
- Income tax form
- Page from a phone book or a club directory
- Pay stub
- City or County tax bill
- Title to car, boat, or mobile home
- Bank statement
- Privilege license certificate
- Blank or canceled check
- Marriage/death certificates
- Divorce decree
- Utility, insurance, legal, medical, bill etc.
- Deed or closing documents to property sold/bought
- Church records
- Credit Reports
- School records or transcripts
- Power of Attorney papers
- Last Will & Testament
- Trust Agreements
How to Conduct the Search for Unclaimed Property in North Carolina
Conducting the unclaimed property funds search is as easy as it can get. You only need to provide your last name or your business name in the relevant field, and your first name in the field that reads ‘First Name’. Be sure to provide your city name and zip code in order to make the search more accurate.
As an example, we have used Jacob Smith.
The next step is selecting the property or properties that you’d wish to claim. Here, you can also initiate a new search for property that may be owed to you, but registered under a different name. Feel free to use nicknames, your maiden name, or even common misspellings.
Once you have made a selection of all the property that you would like to make a claim on, click on the ‘View Claimed Properties’ icon.
Be sure to state your relationship to each property owner.
Click on next and provide the necessary information in the next step as below:
Holder Information & Reporting
Step 1: Identify Properties
While carrying out their annual financial review, property holders re required to do a classification of all the properties they hold. If the property owner does not show any particular interest in the given property within the property’s dormancy holding duration, the property is usually presumed as abandoned. You can visit the N.C.G.S § 116B-53(c) to see the holding periods corresponding to various types of property as listed on the Business & Organization NAUPA Class Codes as well as Dormancy Charts.
Step 2: Try to Locate the Rightful Owners
The state of North Carolina encourages you to try and locate all the rightful property owners through customer service efforts. In accordance to N.C.G.S. § 116B-59(b), for a security or any other equity asset valued at $25 and above, and $50 for any other property type, the property holder should send a due diligence notice to its owner in writing according to the law. Here, the holder should be really careful to avoid sending this notice to a wrong recipient.
The notice should contain the contact information of the holder. In addition to this, there should be a statement that once the property gets placed in the treasurer’s custody, all dividends, interest, gains and income from the said property will remain in the treasurer’s custody, even in the case where the owner reclaim it.
Notices should be mailed not less than 60 days and not more than 120 days from the due date of report. Any holder that violates the notice requirement will be subjected to the penalty payable to North Carolina. Another important thing to keep in mind is the fact that it is good customer service practice to conduct your due diligence. Property owners usually get so frustrated, particularly when they find out that the holder has not made any noteworthy effort in communicating to them about their assets. This is especially so if address remains unchanged all along.
Step 3: Prepare Your Report
Holders can prepare their report by making use of a holder-reporting software, allowing them to come up with a NAUPA file. This file should be saved in a .rpt, .hrs, or .txt, file format. Files in HDE format will not get accepted. As an alternative, holders may input report data directly into the state’s Manual Online Reporting tool. Unclaimed Property reporting forms are no longer required. As you prepare the report, make sure that all the appropriate NAUPA class-codes as well as relationship-codes are selected correctly for the funds to be returned to their rightful owner.
Property Due to Other States
Usually, unclaimed property should be reported to the state of the claimant’s address. Particular asset types including money orders and traveler checks should be reported to the specific states in which they were initially purchased. In the case where the claimant’s physical address is foreign or unknown, the properties are due to the US state where their rightful owner has been incorporated.
Even though NC has exchange and reciprocal agreements with certain states, holders are advised to ONLY report assets for which North Carolina is entitled to, or incidental property (by this, we mean 10 or less properties that total to a maximum of $1000 and is permitted to any other state than NC). Be sure to communicate with the authorized state in order to confirm the mutuality practices of the said state before you can report the unclaimed asset to North Carolina.
Negative Reports
Negative reports are not really required. If you chose to file a negative report, you could submit a $0.00 NAUPA file or alternatively enter a manual report to the tune of $0.00.
Reporting Securities
There are specific instructions and guidelines that you will be requested to follow to the letter before you can remit or even report securities. These are detailed in Registering, Reporting, as well as Transfer Instructions related to equities.
Reporting Tips
In preparing your report, be sure that the correct possession relationship code and NAUPA class-code sections are completed correctly and accurately in order to ensure that the property is returned to its rightful owner. These codes can be found in the state Reporting Library.
Property holders should include their full name, Social Security Number, their last known address, or their federal tax identification number (FEIN), their date of birth, their DL number & state of issuance, as well as each owner’s email address (if known) in their report. In the FEIN or SSN field, confirm that you provide only the valid FEINs and SSNs. Properties should be reported to the state with an Owner Type Code of ‘Aggregate’, ‘Other’, or ‘Unknown’.
Any applicable fees can’t be assessed unless there is an active contract with the asset’s legal owner or any other valid authorization by statute that is not regularly reversed or cancelled. Property holders are encouraged to report all properties individually, regardless of the amount, in order to assist in returning all property amounts to their rightful owners.
Step 4: Report Submission and Remitting the Funds Due
Electronic Reporting
If you have already created a NAUPA file, be sure to visit ‘Upload a Report’, proceed to provide the requested data, and then add your file. You will get a Report Summary which indicates that your report was well submitted. Do take note of the fact that if you have submitted your NAUPA via ETM, you should not upload your file on the North Carolina’s state website. ETM files are electronically submitted to NC provided they are not in HDE format. HDE files are no longer accepted by North Carolina and should be changed to the right format prior to submission.
Manual Reporting
Reporting forms in the state are no longer valid. Property holders that have not created an electronic file should visit North Carolina’s Manual Online Reporting Tool and enter the required holder or owner information. Visit the state website to check the Manual Online Reporting Instructions, alongside a step by step guide on how to create and submit your holder report.
Remit Funds Due
Holders can remit payments via Check, ACH or Wire transfer. When remitting a check, the check should be payable to “North Carolina Department of State Treasurer.” The Report Summary and check should be sent together via mail to:
NC Department of State Treasurer
Unclaimed Property Division
3200 Atlantic Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27604-1668
If as a holder you have submitted a report via Upload a Report option or the Manual Online Reporting Tool, the ACH payments can only be accepted directly using the Holder Payment portal. It is not necessary to email or mail the ACH confirmation or Report Summary when sending funds via the state portal.
All other EFT instructions can be found in our Reporting Library. When remitting via ACH or Wire and not using our holder payment portal, it is necessary to email a confirmation of report submission and EFT transfer to [email protected] with the subject: Holder Report Filing.
Record Retention
Owner names, their addresses, social security/ tax identification numbers, dates of birth, driver license numbers, and e-mail addresses of the owners must be included on the acquiesced report, if known by the custodian. N.C.G.S. § 116B-73(a) requires that holders retain all records containing information required to be included in the report for 10 years after they file the report for all the records.
Unclaimed Property Laws in North Carolina
North Carolina state law requires that unclaimed property holders should report and remit all unclaimed property on a yearly basis after the dormancy period is met. Unclaimed property in the state can be refunds, wages, bank accounts, utility deposits, bonds, insurance policy proceeds, stocks, or any contents of safe deposit boxes that have been abandoned.
Property is considered abandoned in North Carolina if there have been no documented transactions or contact with the rightful owners for a period of time, which is typically known as a dormancy period. The 2020 Legislative Session led to several changes in NC’s Unclaimed Property laws. The changes include a couple of important clarifications as well as new requirements for property holders.
What attempts are made to find the rightful owners?
Under the law, the property holders including insurance companies, banks, and credit unions, must make a deliberate effort to locate the property’s legal owner in good faith. If it turns out to be an unsuccessful endeavor, they ought to report the last known addresses and names of the property owners to North Carolina’s State Treasurer.
Additionally, the Department of State Treasurer should post a notice in two or more newspapers, stating the nature of the lists posted stating that the lists are available for inspection at the offices of the respective clerks of the superior court. The Department of State Treasurer has also developed and implemented a state-wide public awareness and outreach effort that includes setting up public booths at several fairs, street festivals as well as conventions, asking for help from members of the General Assembly and the local governmental offices in locating rightful property owners.
Unclaimed Money FAQs in North Carolina
When and How Will I Get My Money?
One thing to keep in mind when filing a New Hampshire claim is that your money is only available in the form of a check. The state can send one in your current name if it changed since you created the asset and send it to the address that you choose. It can take up to two months for your check to get there. If you want to make sure that you did everything the state required, use the search for your claim’s status page. You just need to enter your claim number and find your asset in the system.
How does property get to the “unclaimed?” state?
There are several reasons as to how this can happen. Lack of proper communication where the property owner does not advise any change in address, an oversight, where the owner does not provide the necessary information updates, a mail getting lost or being returned to sender, the owner failing to take action once they are mailed, or the property holder not performing their due diligence in locating the rightful owner.
How exactly does the state get the property?
North Carolina state law requires that public agencies, insurance companies, financial institutions, as well as businesses to turn over all unclaimed property to the state if there has been zero contact with the owners for the stated period of time.
Will I pay any fee charged to get my funds back?
No! This is a FREE public service that is provided in North Carolina.
What does the State do with the money before it is claimed?
The North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (SEAA) is an agency to the State of North Carolina. This body is authorized by the General Assembly to administer the post-secondary education programs of student financial assistance created under Federal or State law.
North Carolina General Statute 116B-7 states that the interest earnings from the Escheat Fund, less any administrative expenses, should be deposited with the SEAA. The law further provides that these funds will be utilized to provide grants and low-interest loans to needy and worthy North Carolina students attending State-supported schools or institutions of higher education.
What happens to money that is never claimed by the owner?
It is important to note that there is no time limit when it comes to making a claim to the State Treasurer. Property owners or even their heirs can always claim the property. In the case where an owner is deceased, the executor of the deceased person’s estate can claim such funds provided they give proper documentation.
What is an Escheat?
An escheat refers to the process of succession of all abandoned property to the State. Usually, it is associated with properties of an individual who dies without a will and without any known heirs. However, this concept has been extended to include recovery of any property that results from the failure of an individual that is legally entitled to that property to make a valid claim against the property holder within a prescribed period of time. As such, the terms escheat and unclaimed property can be used interchangeably.
What is Tangible Unclaimed Property?
Tangible property can be defined as cash or any personal property that is physically held in a safe deposit box. After the said property has been held for at least one year, these items could be sold through a bidding process. The state of North Carolina is currently transitioning from selling unclaimed tangible property through the State Surplus Property Division to a new bidding process.
Can I have someone help me locate my unclaimed property at a fee?
Searching for your unclaimed property in North Carolina is a free service rendered by the Department of State Treasurer. In case an unclaimed property finder professional contacts you, be sure to contact the state at [email protected] before you sign any kind of agreement. All property finders are required to register with the state of North Carolina every year. Be sure to contact the treasurer’s office to validate that they are actually registered. The property finder should also provide information regarding the services they offer, the type of property as well as the fee. This amount shouldn’t be greater than 20% of the property’s value.
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