bank abandoned safe deposit boxes auction

The properties belong to individuals, school districts and organizations, like the Boys & Girls Club. They range in value from 1 cent to $5.1 million. The Texas comptroller operates the website, where you can enter your name or the name of your business and see if any of the 66 million unique unclaimed properties belong to you. The money from the auction is kept for the owner to claim. If not claimed in about a year, the state keeps some kinds of paperwork, auctions any valuable items and disposes of the rest. The only abandoned physical property the state receives is from safe deposit boxes, medical examiners offices and hospitals. Similarly, banks with accounts that have been inactive for about three years must try to reach the owners one more time before handing the money over to the state. If an employee’s paycheck hasn’t been cashed in a year, for example, the employer is obligated to send those wages to the Texas comptroller, the state’s chief accountant.

The state doesn't notify people about these funds, so many don't know they have money - oftentimes hundreds of dollars - just waiting to be claimed. It’s money the state is holding from things like abandoned bank accounts and safe deposit boxes, uncashed paychecks, and unclaimed refunds and deposits.Įach year, hundreds of millions of dollars go unclaimed in Texas. Texas has about $7 billion in “unclaimed property.” That’s not real estate or abandoned houses.

Bank abandoned safe deposit boxes auction