Unclaimed treasures may await you

To find out if you have unclaimed treasure waiting for you:

> Call: (800) 654-3463

> E-mail: unclaimed.property@cpa.state.tx.us

> Write: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Unclaimed Property Research and Correspondence Section, P.O. Box 12019, Austin, Texas 78711-2019

> Search: www.window.state.tx.us/up

A vault the size of a small conference room holds unclaimed treasures worth $1.9 million that belong to 800 Rio Grande Valley residents.

You might be one of them.

For almost 50 years, a state department has collected uncashed checks, unrefunded deposits, inheritances, royalties, securities and property that have been left behind, misplaced, forgotten, undelivered, unclaimed, unknown and sometimes unwanted.

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts annually publishes the names of residents statewide who have at least $250 worth of unclaimed property that the state has collected during the preceding year.

Residents can immediately search online to see if they are listed and get basic information about the property to which they may have a claim. Property or funds valued at less than $250 will be posted online. Unclaimed property dating back to 1983 also will be listed on the Web site. The state can search its microfiche archives for unclaimed property from the mid-1960s to 1983.

Residents who find their names in the special section in today’s Monitor can call, e-mail or write the comptroller’s department to begin verification of their claim and arrange delivery of the property. The process takes about 60 to 90 days.

McAllen resident Paul Hallock, who’s on the list, said he received a letter earlier this year alerting him that the comptroller had something that might be his.

He said he found out it was a $400 check from an electric company in connection with a piece of property his family owned in Texas.

However, the check actually belongs to his father — also Paul Hallock, who died in 1987. Hallock said the family sold the property years ago and he no longer has the paperwork bearing his father’s information, making it difficult to claim the funds.

“Don’t misunderstand me,” he said. “$400 is $400, but I think it would probably cost me about that much to chase it down. I might try again to see.”

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Jackie Leatherman covers Hidalgo County and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4424.