Free Money
“Free vacation with no strings attached!”
“You were randomly selected to win our grand prize!”
“A car dealership is in desperate need of your exact car and will pay you top dollar for it!”
If you’re like me, you probably feel bombarded regularly by ridiculous offers that are obvious shams. I even received an email last week from a “lawyer” in a different country who can’t find any relatives for his wealthy, deceased client. He gave me the generous offer of splitting the wealth with him if I claim to be a long-lost relative.
Or, in my line of work they look more like this: 100 qualified leads sent to you every week! $15 million in 401(k) assets that need managing!
While these are obvious scams (I hope they are obvious!), I actually do have a free money offer for you that is not a scam. It’s called Unclaimed Property.
Since the 1960s, Texas has required businesses to report to the state any personal property that has been unclaimed for a period of time. These include things such as payroll checks, stock accounts, utility deposits, bank accounts, overpayments, etc. The Texas Comptroller manages the State of Texas Unclaimed Property Program.
When a business “escheats” (reports) unclaimed property to the state, the state will hold those funds until the rightful owner comes forward and proves their ownership. There is no statute of limitations on this. The most recent article I could find said the Comptroller is holding over $5 billion in unclaimed property, in the names of over 14 million people!
How to Get your Unclaimed Property
There is a good chance you have some unclaimed property out there to collect. Here are the steps to get your free money.
- Go to https://claimittexas.org/ which is the official Texas Comptroller website for unclaimed property.
- Click “Get Started.”
- Enter your name and click “Search.”
Scroll through the results for your name, and check the addresses to see if they are places you have lived. If you have lived in other states, you can search their unclaimed property websites as well.
If you find unclaimed property, you can submit a claim for that property online. Typically you’ll need to submit some personal information, including proof that you lived at that address. (And you all thought I was crazy for keeping all of my old utility statements! Who’s laughing now??)
I searched “George Bush” just for fun, and found a lot of results! $88 in an old bank account. A $66 pension check. $31 from Sirius XM. A $50 Men’s Wearhouse giftcard. Thousands of dollars owed to his campaign office. I don’t know if all of these belong to the George Bush we’re thinking of, but if any of you know him personally you should tell him to check it out!
A word of caution: There are lots of companies out there that will mail you a flyer saying that they found unclaimed property for you, and if you pay them they will help you collect it. You don’t need their help! The process is very easy to complete on your own. Just go to the website above and follow the instructions.
If you find millions of dollars in unclaimed property, you better give me a call for planning advice! And if you’re already a client of mine, you’ll be happy to know I’ve already done this for you and found any unclaimed property in your name. Happy treasure hunting!
