Texas Comptroller Don Huffines is encouraging Texans to check the state's unclaimed property database, where more than $12.5 billion is waiting to be returned to its owners. The agency is starting a modernization of the program that will bring artificial intelligence into the claims process for the first time, along with new software. The agency says the effort is unprecedented.
Huffines said the money belongs to the people who earned it. He said the agency is working to return funds as quickly as possible. Since Aug. 1, when he took office, the agency has processed 107,405 claims, a 40% increase over the same period last year, according to the agency. The Unclaimed Property Division has also been restructured. Additional details about the modernization will be announced in the coming weeks.
Unclaimed property can include forgotten bank accounts, uncashed checks, utility deposits, insurance proceeds, payroll checks and 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 hold the funds for the rightful owner. There is generally no statute of limitations on unclaimed property the state holds, so owners can file a claim at any time.