2. What Is Tangible Property?
The definition of Tangible Property depends on what period you’re talking about.
• Before October 1, 2011, tangible property referred to anything that had monetary value. This
vague definition of property made us a dumping ground for universities, hospitals, and other
random places.
• On October 1, 2011, UP enacted legislation to more specifically define tangible property as
property coming from a safe deposit box held in a financial institution.
• In July 2013, legislation was passed to define tangible property as money or property coming
from a safe deposit box held in a financial institution.
3. How the process starts…
• Holder submits an ASD-159 and an ASD-127 to our office for review.
• Our office checks “Submit” or “Destroy”, or “Appropriate Authority” next to each listed item.
• Report ID number assigned.
• Attach instruction letter.
• Scan report.
• Return report to holder along with a box sticker.
4. Box Owner Information
If Known by the holder, the following information is required.
• Last known name and address
• Social security number
• Past due box rental fees
• Drivers license number
• Email address
• Box number
• Date of Birth
5. What Property We Accept
• Coins
• Jewelry
• Baseball Cards
• Stamps
• Bibles
• Savings Bonds/Stock Certificates
• Military Discharge Papers
• Adoption Papers
• Life Insurance Policies
• Traveler/Cashier Checks
• Misc
6. What do we NOT accept?
Safe deposit boxes also have property we are not interested in keeping.
• Wills
• Pictures
• Deeds
• letters
• Teeth (unless gold is attached)
• Dentures
• Death certificates
• Military papers (other than discharge papers)
• Anything without monetary value
• Items that pose a possible public safety threat… like firearms, ammo, or human remains.
7. Instructions Letter
• One of two possible letter instruction letters are sent to the holder.
1. Your reported property has no value. Please destroy contents as you deem fit.
2. Submit your property in a secure manner to the following address…
• Wait for holder to submit their property. This could take weeks, months, or
sometimes more.
9. Tangible Property Report
Finally their property arrives!
• An Inventory Control Sheet must be filled out and signed by two people. This page needs to
be attached to each box. The tangible shipment log in my cubicle must also be filled out. If I
am not in the office, someone else must fill out the log. At this point, the same two people
must walk the package into the vault for storage. The vault also has a logbook that must be
filled out upon entering.
• The package will not be accepted if it is torn or extremely beat up. If this happens, take a
picture of the damage, and return the package to the sender. Contact must be made
immediately to the sender explaining the situation. They must reship the property to us after
they are confident of its contents.
10. What do we do with it???
Tangible property is held in our vault for one year according to G.S 116B-65. During
this time, we do the following…
• do everything under dual control.
• List and describe every item we’re holding.
• Photograph every item we are holding.
• Attempt to locate and return owner’s property .
• Have property seen by an appraiser prior to being sold.
11. Logging In Property
• Under dual control
• Log in all last known info on box owner
• Describe everything we find in bag to newly created safekeeping number (SK#)
• Diamond Tester
• Take pictures
• Separate property to corresponding bag
– Brown envelope
– Plastic security bag
• Store in vault until property is claimed or goes to State Surplus
12. Taking Pictures
Taking Pictures Allows us…
• Compare property to what holder says they sent us
• Answer questions to claimant about what property looks like
• Transfer pictures that we approve to the NC State Surplus website
Every picture we take contains a small paper tag with its assigned sk number. Once
the property is sold, it helps us credit back proceeds to the correct box owner.
13. Locating Box Owners
Before any property goes for sale, we attempt to locate the owner by using sites like
Accurint. This allows us to …
• Call owner
• Write owner
• Email owner
• Telepathic communication
14. Claiming Tangible Property
• Processing a tangible property claim is identical to processing any
other claim, but with a few “extra’s”
• Notarized claim form with documentation to prove ownership.
• If any fee is posted, a receipt, a letter stating fee has been met, or a
letter stating the fee has been waved must be presented before any
property can be returned. Once the fee has been satisfied, make
sure you accept it under the Evidence tab. In addition to this, you
must go to the small “property” tab, and press the property ID
number. Here, you press the “fee” tab. After it pulls up the fee,
press “edit” at the bottom of the screen. This action will open up
the “Edit Property Fees” tab. Press the drop down menu under Fee
type and change the highlighted line to “Owner Paid”. Press Save.
• Just like a regular claim, an estate must be reopened for a tangible
claim if it is more than one year old from date of issue.
15. Special Fees
• Holder reports owner’s past due box rental fees.
• Unclaimed Property is not a “middle man”, and will not accept the payment on behalf of the
bank.
• Sometimes the amount of the fee is larger than the value of the contents were holding. Make
phone call to claimant.
16. Sale of Tangible Property
After all attempts to locate the box owner have been unsuccessful, the following
steps are taken…
• Our existing property descriptions and pictures are transferred to the NCStateSurplus.com
website. State Surplus sells and auctions our property for a small fee and returns the
proceeds to us.
• Proceeds are posted back to our system for the box owner to claim should they, or
representatives from their estate ever come forward.
Don’t forget the fees
New website has updated forms and guides that can assist you with holder reporting.
We have a separate website for claimants and holders now. This enables holders to access information on our website quickly, easily and without having to browse through information concerning claims.
The two websites are.
