Special to The Leader

AUSTIN — The Texas Comptroller returned a record $248 million in unclaimed property to rightful owners this fiscal year, Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Friday.

The record breaks the mark of $205 million in unclaimed property returns in fiscal 2014.

“This achievement shows our commitment to reuniting more unclaimed property with more rightful owners than ever before,” Hegar said. “Our hardworking staff returned nearly a quarter of a billion dollars back to Texans all over our great state, and I want to encourage all Texans out there to visit ClaimItTexas.org to see if the state is holding some of their unclaimed property.”

The Comptroller’s office has returned more than $2 billion to rightful owners since Texas’ unclaimed property program began in 1962.

In fiscal 2015, claims were paid as far north as Amarillo and as far south as Brownsville; as far east as Nacogdoches and as far west as El Paso. Fiscal 2015 began Sept. 1, 2014, and ends Aug. 31.

The $248 million in unclaimed property for fiscal 2015 includes 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 turn property over to the unclaimed property program after it has been dormant from one to five years, generally.

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

For more information about the unclaimed property program, or to search for unclaimed property and begin the claims process, visit the Comptroller’s unclaimed property website at ClaimItTexas.org or call 1-800-654-FIND (3463).