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AUSTIN—Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar has returned $2 billion in unclaimed property to its rightful owners since he took office in January 2015, his office announced this week. “I am proud of the commitment this office has made to reuniting unclaimed property with its rightful owners, and that commitment is reflected in this landmark achievement,” Hegar said. “I encourage everyone to visit ClaimItTexas. org and see if there is money waiting for them.” Since the unclaimed property program began in 1962, Texas has returned more than $3 billion in unclaimed property to its rightful owners, with Hegar’s team returning more than two-thirds of that total in less than eight years. Hegar’s administration reached $2 billion in unclaimed property returns last month, and the landmark threshold is composed of a little more than 2 million individual payments. Hegar’s Unclaimed Property Division surpassed $1 billion in unclaimed property returned in the fall of 2018. The state currently is holding more than $7 billion in cash and other valuables through the program. Unclaimed property includes things such as forgotten utility deposits or other refunds, insurance proceeds, payroll checks, cashier’s checks, dividends, mineral royalties, dormant bank accounts, and abandoned safe-deposit box contents. Businesses generally turn property over to the unclaimed property program after it has been considered dormant for one to five years. You can search ClaimItTexas.org or call 800.321.2274 (CASH) to see if you have unclaimed property.
