New York Office of Unclaimed Funds — Office of the State Comptroller

Agency directory page. Legal information, not legal advice. Last verified: 2026-06-02. Identifies the state agency holding escheated tax-sale and mortgage-foreclosure surplus in New York and how to reclaim it. See escheat-and-unclaimed-property for the doctrine and new-york for the foreclosure/surplus mechanics.

Agency

Office of Unclaimed Funds, Office of the New York State Comptroller (OSC). Unlike most states, New York’s custodian is the Comptroller, not the Treasurer. After a statutory inactivity period, “lost money is legally considered abandoned property and turned over to the New York State Comptroller’s Office, where there’s no fee or time limit to claim it,” under the New York Abandoned Property Law (APL). (Source: https://www.osc.ny.gov/unclaimed-funds , retrieved 2026-06-02.)

Official claim portal

https://ouf.osc.ny.gov/ — official search and claim site. Direct claim search: https://ouf.osc.ny.gov/app/claim-search. Program/information page: https://www.osc.ny.gov/unclaimed-funds. (Source: https://ouf.osc.ny.gov/ and https://www.osc.ny.gov/unclaimed-funds , retrieved 2026-06-02.) The service is free; most claims are paid within 30 days.

How surplus escheats here

When a New York tax foreclosure (RPTL Article 11) or mortgage foreclosure (RPAPL Article 13) produces a surplus that the referee, clerk, or court cannot pay to the owner, the residue typically passes through a surplus-money proceeding and, if still unclaimed, becomes abandoned property reportable to the Comptroller under the Abandoned Property Law. The taking is custodial — held for the owner, with no fee or time limit to claim (consistent with the escheat-and-unclaimed-property custodial model). The general dormancy period under New York’s APL is commonly three years for the catch-all category. (Source: https://www.osc.ny.gov/unclaimed-funds , retrieved 2026-06-02. The exact APL section and dormancy clock for foreclosure surplus specifically — and the interaction with the RPAPL surplus-money proceeding — are needs_verification against the NY Abandoned Property Law and RPAPL Article 13.)

▸ For Investors / Operators. New York runs a formal surplus-money proceeding after mortgage foreclosure (RPAPL § 1361 et seq.) before money ever reaches the Comptroller; junior lienors and the former owner litigate priority there. Surplus is a former-owner/junior-creditor asset downstream of your acquisition and does not cloud title. See the new-york page, Module 3, for the surplus-money-proceeding mechanics.

For the upstream timeline — RPTL Article 11 tax foreclosure and the RPAPL surplus-money proceeding — see the new-york page, Module 3.

Claiming

1. Search osc.ny.gov/unclaimed-funds (or ouf.osc.ny.gov) by last/business name; refine by first name, city, ZIP.
2. File the claim online (minutes); submit proof of identity and of the right to the funds (former-owner link to the property; for an estate, personal-representative authority).
3. Approved claims: check mailed within 30 days. No fee. (Source: https://www.osc.ny.gov/unclaimed-funds , retrieved 2026-06-02.)

▸ For Former Owners. If a New York foreclosure left a surplus you never received, search your name at osc.ny.gov/unclaimed-funds — free, and the Comptroller’s fund has no time limit to claim (escheat-and-unclaimed-property). Note the money may instead be sitting in a court surplus-money proceeding; both paths are recoverable.

Sources

• {gov, https://ouf.osc.ny.gov/, retrieved 2026-06-02} — official New York Office of Unclaimed Funds search/claim portal.
• {gov, https://ouf.osc.ny.gov/app/claim-search, retrieved 2026-06-02} — direct claim search.
• {gov, https://www.osc.ny.gov/unclaimed-funds, retrieved 2026-06-02} — Office of the State Comptroller, Unclaimed Funds; “no fee or time limit,” 30-day payment; New York Abandoned Property Law.
• {internal, concepts/escheat-and-unclaimed-property.md, read 2026-06-02} — custodial-taking doctrine; no time bar on owner claims.

Disclaimer. Legal information, not legal advice. Verify the agency URL and dormancy period against the official NY Comptroller site and the New York Abandoned Property Law / RPAPL Article 13 before acting. Nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship.