They say all comes big in the Lone Star State- the longhorned bovines, cowboy boots, prairies, steaks, cars, and piles of money. Texas unclaimed money that is. Texas comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn has almost billion dollars of unclaimed cash to give-away to her state's residents. Well, it's not so much giving-away as giving-back since the lost cash was already theirs to begin with. Funny thing is most of the 200,000 people owed Texas unclaimed properties don't even know they have money coming to them.
People tend to forget to derive wages or assurance checks when they get new jobs or move to a new house. They also forget to leave behind forwarding addresses when they move and this is one of the main causes for lost checks. When firm and financial establishments can't find the owners of these lost financial assets for 5 years (in Texas), they are turned over to the state as dictated by Texas Unclaimed property Law which follows the country's escheat laws. The unclaimed funds stay with Texas state Comptroller's office until their owners come to claim them.
Unclaimed Property
Unclaimed property in Texas covers anyone from forgotten bank accounts, savings accounts, stock and cash dividends, uncollected assurance benefits and money orders to gift certificates, un-cashed checks and contents of safety deposit boxes which have been determined abandoned by their owners. The latter is the only example of tangible assets under the Texas Unclaimed property Law and these are auctioned-off in dBay after 2 years of being turned-over to the State Comptroller's office. So if you're finding for house heirlooms or antiques that your Texan relatives may have lost over the years, it's best to go check-out eBay.
George Tamayo, employer of the unclaimed funds branch in Texas says "From our experience, we determined we were getting the most bang for our buck on eBay." to which he adds "It's more cost-effective, because we are able to do the auctions ourselves." His state was one of the first to make use of the internet auction site early in 2002, switching from the primary method of disposing of the abandoned property straight through live auctions. According to Jackie Schroeter, safe deposit box employer for Texas, posting on eBay saves her office time and effort. With the live auctions, the Unclaimed property office would have to shut down to coordinate them due to lack in manpower. It just takes a few clicks with a computer mouse now.
The proceeds from these auctions go back to the Texas unclaimed property fund where they still can be claimed by their rightful owners at any time. "The Unclaimed property List contains the names of Texans with property valued at 0 or more that was reported to the state within the last year.", says Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn who also announced in a modern report, "Since I took office, I have returned more than 2 million in unclaimed property to its primary owners,"
This is good news legitimately for residents of the Lone Star State, but don't think the Comptroller is going to come to your front door and deliver your lost funds to you. Unless you have no immediate need for extra bucks in your pocket, you should crusade for unclaimed money in Texas or other states now!
Unclaimed Money In Texas - Lost Cash And property Up For Grabs For 200,000 Texans
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