Texas is holding more than $9 billion in cash and other valuables in the Unclaimed Property Division, Comptroller Glenn Hegar said.

There is generally no statute of limitations for unclaimed property the state holds, which means there’s no time limit for owners to file a claim — they can do so at any time.

“I am proud to have returned more than $3 billion to Texans since becoming Comptroller, including a record $422 million last fiscal year,” Hegar said in observance of February 1 as national Unclaimed Property Day. “I encourage everyone to visit ClaimItTexas.gov to see if the state is holding some of their unclaimed property.”

The comptroller’s office has returned more than $4 billion in unclaimed property to its owners since Texas’ unclaimed property program began in 1962, Hegar said.

According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, one in seven people in the United States have unclaimed property.

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.

For more information, or to search for unclaimed property and begin the claims process, visit the comptroller’s unclaimed property website, ClaimItTexas.gov. Texans are also encouraged to check MissingMoney.com to search for property that may belong to them in other states.

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