Welcome to the Massachusetts Abandoned Property Division Auction web site.

Since Treasurer Cahill took office, the Abandoned Property Division has returned over $256 million to rightful owners. In 2007, $57 million dollars and 897,157 shares of stock were returned, marking the Divisions most successful year to date. It is estimated that one person in every ten has abandoned property. According to the Massachusetts Abandoned Property Laws, most financial assets that have been inactive for more than three years are declared "abandoned" and turned over to the Commonwealth. Additionally, the Treasury receives the contents of safe deposit boxes that have been held in "Special Deposit" for seven years by financial organization, government agencies and other public institutions. The Treasury attempts to locate the owners or their heirs by sending notice to the last known address of the box owner, advertising the names in local papers and an aggressive outreach program. If an owner is located the property is returned. If not, the personal property is appraised and put up for public auction. The proceeds form the sales of this form of property remain available for rightful owners to claim.