In 2022, over $1 billion worth of unclaimed property became the property of the state.

Austin, Texas – Millions of dollars are being raffled off in the state of Texas.

“It could be bank accounts, it could be utility deposits… it could be a customer refund,” said Bryant Clayton, assistant director of the Unclaimed Property Division of the Texas Comptroller’s Office.

Items of value left in a safe may also become unclaimed property deposited with the State General Revenue Fund until claimed by the rightful owner.

Texas residents can go online and type in a name or company name to search for unclaimed properties that are decades old.

But many Texans may not realize they have property they can claim, which is why some states are taking the extra step for residents.

For example, in Wisconsin, the Department of Revenue automatically sends checks to unclaimed property owners up to $2,000 and unclaimed property notice letters to property owners over $2,000. In 2021, $2.7 million worth of checks were sent out.

Texas passed a law in 2021 allowing the Financial Conduct Authority to do the same for properties under $5,000.

However, there is no timeline for its implementation yet.

“This is a project we’re working on – determining which properties should be eligible, and how can we get all the information to get that property back to the right owner?” Clayton said.

As of 2016, properties under $25 are no longer listed on the site. Clayton noted that there is another way to check out smaller items via the search form on the website.

“You can ask us to search any property you own… and we will do that research,” Clayton said. “And that can be helpful because there might be property that can’t be claimed in your name.”

For example, a person might have a gift card number but not a name.

The data, obtained at the request of public information, showed how much unclaimed property the state had compared to how much was paid out.

In 2022, unclaimed property worth $1,011,742,238.35 was taken over by the state, and residents were paid $309,537,531.95, which is about 30%.

Over a five-year period, from 2018 to 2022, the state received $3,849,375,096.56 and paid out $1,443,847,727.80—approximately 37%.

In total, according to the Accounts Chamber, the state currently owns unclaimed property worth more than $7 billion.

A recent search of several non-profits in Austin turned up several unclaimed amounts of property that were listed. FOX 7 searches for larger organizations like The Salvation Army turned up pages of results.

Clayton encouraged Texans to go online and look up their own name or that of a relative.

“We regularly make claims for property that we were told about back in the eighties,” Clayton said.

For a nationwide unclaimed property search, click here.