Texas Is Holding $12.5 Billion That Belongs to Texans: The Comptroller's Office Is Modernizing the Program That Gives It Back
Comptroller Don Huffines launched an overhaul of the unclaimed property program Friday, bringing artificial intelligence into the claims process for the first time. Since August 1, the restructured division has processed 107,405 claims - 40 percent more than the same period last year.
More than $12.5 billion in forgotten money is sitting in Austin waiting for its owners, and the Texas Comptroller's office wants it gone. Comptroller Don Huffines encouraged Texans on Friday to check the state's unclaimed property database as his agency begins what it called an unprecedented modernization of the program - bringing artificial intelligence into the claims process for the first time, along with new software, to get money back to Texans faster. 'This money belongs to those who earned it, not the state,' Huffines said. 'We're pushing hard to reunite people with their money as quickly as possible.'
The push comes with a restructured Unclaimed Property Division and early numbers the agency is keen to show. Since August 1, when Huffines took office, the agency has processed 107,405 claims, a 40 percent increase over the same period last year, the release said. 'Texans should not have to wait for money that is already theirs,' Huffines said. 'For the first time in decades, we are cleaning out the garage, and this is just the start.' Additional details of the modernization are to be announced in the coming weeks.
Unclaimed property is the ordinary money of interrupted lives: forgotten bank accounts, uncashed checks, utility deposits, insurance proceeds, payroll checks and the contents of abandoned safe-deposit boxes. Texas law requires financial institutions and businesses to turn over inactive accounts after a set period, so the Comptroller's office can safeguard the funds until the rightful owner files a claim.
There is no deadline pressure: the state notes there is generally no statute of limitations on the property it holds, so owners can claim at any time. Texans can search the database and start a claim at ClaimItTexas.gov, or call 800-321-2274. With $12.5 billion on the shelf, the odds that a search turns up something - a deposit from a first apartment, a final paycheck from a long-ago job - are better than most people assume.
