Unclaimed Properties
Abstract
Each year, unclaimed properties are reported to the District of Columbia's Unclaimed Property Division, which lists only the owner's name and address in local newspapers in an effort to notify them of the existence of unclaimed property. Since the District of Columbia's confidentiality statute does not allow us access to information in its unclaimed property records, we had to contact holders of the properties. We found that 45 of the 8,740 unclaimed properties the District of Columbia listed in 1989 belonged to federal agencies. Forty-one of these properties, with a total value of $30,699, were checks for refunds or payments due federal agencies. The nature and dollar values of the remaining four unclaimed properties turned over to the District of Columbia could not be determined because the holders did not retain records after relinquishing the properties. OMB's Chief of Credit and Cash Management told us that OMB is now considering several options for making federal agencies aware of unclaimed federal properties in the possession of state and local government entities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA263342
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office