Escheatment is the process of transferring unclaimed property to the state. It can happen when there are no heirs or beneficiaries, or if assets are unclaimed for a long time. Warning: leftover tax sale foreclosure funds are held for only a short time. After that, the government agency responsible for the funds may be permitted to permanently seize them through a process called escheatment. (Yes, that word sounds like “cheating”, and it kinda is. It’s an old British colonial legal term, still used today in the U.S., meaning “inherited by the Crown”.)

It’s completely unfair for private citizens to lose their funds to faceless government agencies (a system rooted in feudal 16th century England). We are determined to prevent this from happening to anyone, especially you.

How does escheatment work?

— A person loses their home to a tax foreclosure sale and doesn’t know that they are legally allowed to claim the leftover surplus funds resulting from the tax sale. Typical Example: the home is worth $400K then is bought at tax sale auction for $300k (so leftover is $100k), then after back taxes and fees that surplus $100k is reduced to $80k, and now the former owner is owed that surplus leftover of $80k, if they know about it and if they know how to find it and file the claim on it.
— A financial institution reports an account as unclaimed if there is no activity or contact with the owner for a specified period.
— The state becomes the owner of the account.
— The state sells the property and the proceeds become state funds.
— If the owner reclaims the property, they are usually given a cash equivalent of what the property was worth.

What types of assets can escheat to the Government?

— Overage funds from a tax foreclosure sale
— Real estate
— Bank accounts
— Brokerage accounts
— Retirement accounts
— Shares of stock
— Pension accounts
— Annuity contracts
— Uncashed paychecks
— Returned direct deposits

State laws

Escheatment laws differ from state to state, but the process is similar across the United States.