Schmitt: Unclaimed Property auction earns over $150,000 for account owners
Thursday, April 20, 2017
COLUMBIA, MO – Missouri State Treasurer Eric Schmitt today announced his Spring 2017 Unclaimed Property Auction earned over $150,000 for account owners, a 58 percent increase over the last such auction in 2015. The auction was held in Columbia at the Hilton Garden Inn Conference Center on April 18 and 19. More than 2,000 items were included, and the highest bid was $7,300 for a ring.
Auction items came from safe deposit boxes that have been turned over to the Missouri State Treasurer’s Office after five years of inactivity or no contact from the owner. All proceeds from the auction are held until claimed by the rightful owners.
“Unclaimed Property auctions help us guarantee the safekeeping of new safe deposit boxes our office will receive in coming years,” said Schmitt. “Our team worked tirelessly to prepare for this event, and we’re extremely proud of the results we delivered for our account owners.”
Safe deposit boxes represent less than one percent of the more than $900 million currently held in Unclaimed Property from 4.8 million owner accounts.
Unclaimed Property can be quickly searched for and claimed on ShowMeMoney.com. Once a claim is filed, its progress can be tracked online at any time. Individuals may also sign up to receive an email notification when new Unclaimed Property arrives and matches their information.
Since being sworn in, Treasurer Schmitt has returned more than $12 million in Unclaimed Property to around 45,000 owner accounts. The State Treasurer’s Office makes strong efforts to return Unclaimed Property through various means including advertising and direct outreach.
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