Austin-area residents and businesses are collectively sitting on more than $622 million in unclaimed property held by the state, and most of them probably have no idea. Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock is urging Central Texans to take a few minutes and check whether any of that money has their name on it.
KXAN reports that the Texas Comptroller’s unclaimed property database lists about $10.5 billion statewide. Of that, roughly $622.6 million is tied to around 5.7 million people, families or businesses in the Austin area, according to KXAN.
Texans can plug in names, former addresses or business names on the Comptroller’s ClaimItTexas portal, a free lookup tool run by the Unclaimed Property Division. The office also posts step-by-step filing instructions and staffs a help line for claim questions at 800-321-2274, according to the Texas Comptroller.
How to search and what to try
Start with your full legal name, then try variations such as maiden names, old addresses and common nicknames. If you are tracking down money tied to an estate, run searches on relatives’ names too, KXAN reported. When you find a possible match, the portal will spell out which identification and supporting documents the Comptroller’s office needs to process the claim.
What counts as unclaimed property
According to the Texas Comptroller, unclaimed property can include forgotten utility deposits, uncashed payroll checks, insurance proceeds, cashier’s checks, dividends, mineral royalties and the contents of abandoned safe-deposit boxes. Businesses and financial institutions generally report property after a dormancy period that varies by type, typically one to five years.
Why check now
The Comptroller’s office sends out hundreds of millions of dollars every year, yet billions are still sitting unclaimed. Year-end outreach is designed to nudge people to search while they are already sorting through holiday budgets and tax paperwork. Coverage across the state has highlighted county-by-county totals as the office pushes Texans to check before the calendar flips, according to KVIA.
To see if any of that money belongs to you, head to ClaimItTexas.gov or call 800-321-2274. Have a government-issued ID handy, along with any documents that show ownership, if you spot a match. There is usually no time limit on filing a claim, so officials say it is worth searching even for long-forgotten accounts or relatives’ estates.
