Legal Matters

Second, government officials argue that if property belonging to members of the public remains unclaimed, the state is an appropriate proxy for the individual. Therefore, the state should be the beneficiary of any property rights that have been abandoned by its citizens.

Why States Care
In reality, state governments view unclaimed property as a major source of new revenue, enabling states to raise revenue without raising taxes. Consequently, what was once a seldom-enforced area of the law has spawned aggressive audits of catalog companies and electronic merchants.