Unclaimed treasures from abandoned safe deposit boxes and police-owned rooms will be auctioned off to the highest bidder online! 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 has been abandoned for 3 years (in most states), the contents are turned over to the state’s unclaimed property department. Safe deposit boxes are considered abandoned when safe fees are not paid and the owner cannot be contacted through the contact information provided by the safe.
Unclaimed property recovered from safes is auctioned by the state, as the owner of the safe cannot be located. The funds received from the auction are available to the owner, if the owner ever attempts to repossess the property.
In the past, states held local auctions to sell the contents of the safe, 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 started using eBay to auction unclaimed property. The contents are often valuables, 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 offer unclaimed property auctions online through eBay:
At www.ebay.com, you can go to the advanced search and enter the seller’s name in the section titled “From Specific Sellers (Enter Sellers’ User IDs)”:
State of California
EBay Seller Name: ucpauction
State of colorado
EBay Seller Name: co.unclaimed.property
Indiana state
EBay Seller Name: indiana_unclaimed
Maryland State
EBay Seller Name: mdcompschaefer
Texas state
EBay Seller Name: tx.unclaimed.property
Washington dc
EBay Seller Name: DistrictofColumbia
Rooms owned by the Police Department use the online auction room
National law enforcement agencies have property rooms full of stolen or confiscated property. Rightful owners are not easily identified, and once the property is no longer needed as evidence, it must be properly disposed of. Propertyroom.com was founded and run by former police officers. The About Us page says, “… harness the power of the Internet to quickly get items out of police stations, reduce personnel costs, and generate revenue far beyond traditional police auction methods. And there is no cost to participating police or sheriff’s department. “
You can view the items that are currently being auctioned at www.propertyroom.com. You can filter your search to include “only police articles” by checking the box that says “Show only police articles”.
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 go unclaimed year after year.
o Keep a record of your safe deposit box (es)
o Include an heir to your safe (s)
o Keep the contact information of all the accounts and safes you have up to date
o Find unclaimed money and property owed to you
You can search databases to see if you are owed money or unclaimed property.