New York Advertising Requirements – Who? What? Where? When?

As we all know, not all states have the same requirements regarding the various steps it takes to complete your Unclaimed Property State Report. The state of New York requires that certain companies publish information about unclaimed property to newspapers. The advertising does not replace the need to send Due Diligence letters. It is required in addition to letters. Let’s look at the basics of New York’s rules about advertising today…who? what? where? when?

Who Needs to Advertise?

This requirement applies to Financial Institutions, Insurance Companies, and Utility Companies.

What Needs to be Advertised?

Record must be Dormant.
Record value must be greater than or equal to $50.00
Record address must be complete.
Record must have ‘State’ value of ‘New York’.
Record must not be foreign.

In addition to the above, the following must apply if County Codes are populated on the property records.

If the county is Queens, New York City, Kings, Bronx, or Richmond; the total by county must be $10,000 or greater.
If county is other than those listed above, the total by county must be $2500 or greater.

If County Codes are not populated the criteria above must apply and the total for all records with blank County must be $2500 or greater.

Holders can exclude records that meet these criteria but are for well-known entities (i.e. IRS) or for celebrities.

Where Do I Advertise?

Any newspaper distributed in the county where you must advertise is acceptable. A list of approved newspapers for publication is available here:
A copy of the newspaper (to prove the publication) is required to be sent with your New York State Report filing.

When Do I Need to Advertise?

Company Type	Publish By Date	Default Begin Date	Default Claims Deadline
Financial Institution	August 31	June 30	October 31
Life Insurance	May 1	January 1	August 31
Non-Life Insurance	May 1	January 1	August 31
Utility Company	August 31	July 1	September 13

Allocation Options

If you feel the cost of advertising would cause hardship or have another reason for not publishing, you can complete and submit a waiver form. Waiver forms are available for download from the following location: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/ouf/forms/waiver_request.pdf

Best of luck with your 2017 Unclaimed Property State Report Filing…and all of the preparation needed for a successful filing!

Author: Karen Jackson

Account Executive

Labels: UP Best Practices