January 18, 2012
Locate Texas Unclaimed Funds – Part 1 of 2
(Part 1 of 2)
They say that everything comes bigger in the Texas- the longhorned bovines, cowboy boots, prairies, steaks, cars, and even piles of money. TX unclaimed property that is. TX state comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn holds nearly $2 billion in unclaimed cash to give away to the state's residents. Well, it's not so much giving away as returning money since the forgotten cash was already theirs to begin with. Funny thing is that most of the 200,000 people owed TX unclaimed properties don't even realize they have money owed to them.
People tend to forget to collect salary or insurance checks when they get new jobs or relocate. They also often forget to leave a forwarding address after they relocate and this is one of the main reasons for missing checks. When businesses and financial establishments cannot locate the rightful owners of these lost financial assets for five years (in TX), they are handed over to the state as dictated by TX Unclaimed Money Law which follows the country's escheat laws. The unclaimed funds sit in the TX state Comptroller's office until the rightful owners come to take them back.
Unclaimed money in TX covers anything from forgotten bank accounts, savings accounts, stock and cash dividends, uncollected insurance benefits and money orders to gift certificates, un-cashed checks and contents of safety deposit boxes which are considered abandoned by their owners. The latter is the sole example of tangible assets under the TX Unclaimed Money Law and and they're auctioned off on eBay after 2 years of being turned over to the State Comptroller. So if you're looking for antiques or family heirlooms that your Texan relatives may have lost track of over the years, it's best to search soon or risk allowing them to show up on eBay.
Texas unclaimed funds division manager George Tamayo states "From our experience, we determined we were getting the most bang for our buck on eBay." and goes on to say "It's more cost-effective, because we are able to do the auctions ourselves." Texas was one of the first to use the internet auction site in early 2002, switching from the traditional method of disposing of the abandoned properties through live auctions. According to Jackie Schroeter, safe deposit box manager for TX, posting on online auctions saves her office a lot of time and effort. With the live auctions, the office of Unclaimed Property would've had to shut down to organize them, due to lack in manpower. It only takes a handful of clicks of your mouse now.
(to be continued)
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