Unclaimed treasures from abandoned safe deposit boxes and police-owned rooms are auctioned off online to the highest bidder! Find out how to bid on this unclaimed property and how to make sure none of your properties end up at auction.
Contents of the safe
After a safe deposit box has been abandoned for 3 years (in most states), the contents are turned over to the state unclaimed property department. Safe deposit boxes are considered abandoned when safe deposit fees are not paid and the owner cannot be contacted through the contact information provided by the safe deposit box.
The state auctions unclaimed property recovered from safe deposit boxes, as the owner of the box cannot be located. The funds received from the auction are available to the owner, should the owner ever try to repossess the property.
In the past, states have held local auctions to sell safe deposit box contents, but now states are using the power of the Internet to auction off this unclaimed property.
Items found include diamond necklaces, wedding and engagement rings, ruby necklaces, rare coins and stamps, and much more.
Ebay and State Unclaimed Property Auctions
States have begun to use eBay to auction off unclaimed property. The contents are often valuable, including family heirlooms and jewelry. Auctions are held at different intervals for different states, and there may be times when there are no items for sale.
These auctions have received higher bids than states could achieve with local auctions. In Massachusetts, the most recent auction of 200 lots received $140,000 in sales!
The following states are offering online unclaimed property auctions through eBay:
On www.ebay.com, you can go to advanced search and enter the seller’s name in the section titled “From Specific Sellers (Enter User IDs of Sellers)”:
State of California
eBay seller name: ucpauction
colorado state
eBay seller name: co.unclaimed.property
Indiana State
eBay seller name: indiana_unclaimed
State of Maryland
eBay seller name: mdcompschaefer
Texas state
eBay seller name: tx.unclaimed.property
Washington D.C.
eBay Seller Name: DistrictofColumbia
Police Department Property Rooms Use Online Auction Room
Law enforcement agencies across the country have property rooms full of stolen or forfeited property. It is not easy to identify the rightful owners, and once the property is no longer needed as evidence, it must be properly disposed of. Propertyroom.com was founded and run by ex-cops. The about us page says so: “…harnesses the power of the internet to quickly move items out of police-owned rooms, reduce staffing costs, and generate revenue far beyond traditional police auction methods.” And there is no cost to the participating police or sheriff’s department.”
You can view items currently up for auction at www.propertyroom.com. You can filter your search to include “only police items” by checking the box that says “Show me only police items.”
How to make sure your property doesn’t end up in the auction room
There is over $25 billion in unclaimed money and a large amount of unclaimed property in the US This property and the missing money goes unclaimed year after year.
o Keep track of your safety deposit box(es)
o Indicate an heir to your safe deposit box(es)
o Keep the contact information of all the accounts and safe deposit boxes updated
o Search for unclaimed money and property owed to you
You can search the databases to see if you are owed any money or unclaimed property.