New York Residents May Find Checks Up To $5000 Arriving Soon

Check your mailbox, there could be a check worth up to $5000 waiting for you. Whether it's your utility bill, debt collector, or a letter from the IRS, the items in your mailbox can make looking inside a miserable experience. Finally, you could find some good news waiting in your mailbox in the form of a check.

If you have an old bank account you forgot about, inheritance, insurance refund, or any number of funds you didn't know about, that money is yours. Now it could be headed your way automatically. In 2025 New York Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, launched a fast-track payment program to automatically issue $250 for unclaimed funds, now it's an automatic $5000.

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Here's how it would happen. Before a check is issued, the State Comptroller’s office sends a notification letter to let you know a check is coming, followed by the check itself. If you receive one of these checks you are encouraged to open the letter and cash the check promptly. You don't have to tell me twice!

Prior to the fast-track payment program there was a slower verification process holding up your money. In the last year, more than 210,000 expedited checks have been issued so far, totaling $48 million. With the increase to $5000, DiNapoli now returns on average over $2 million in unclaimed funds each day.

Speeding up the return of lost money is priority of mine, and my office worked with the State Legislature in 2024 to create a way to fast-track money to people. After a successful first year, we are increasing the threshold up to $5,000. In these challenging economic times, every little bit helps as the cost of gas, groceries and everyday essentials rise. - Thomas DiNapoli