The names of nearly 44,000 North Texas unclaimed property owners are included on the state’s Unclaimed Property List, which will appear in newspapers in the North Texas region on Sunday, Feb. 7.

In a successful new initiative, the traditional statewide list of unclaimed property owners, historically published in October, has been replaced with six regional lists, published over several months, concluding with the North Texas region.

The five regional unclaimed property lists published so far have produced 20 percent more claims than last year’s statewide list, and Texas Comptroller Susan Combs has returned $21.2 million to its owners so far — nearly $3.5 million more than during the peak period following the publication of last year’s list.

“The numbers are fantastic, even before the publication of the North Texas regional list, which will include the names of nearly 44,000 unclaimed property owners from 50 counties,” Combs said. “We are now able to return money more quickly, because claims are spread out over several months, rather than a single peak period.”

The North Texas region newspaper insert lists people who have had at least $250 in unclaimed property reported to the state within the last year. However, many people whose names are not in the newspaper have unclaimed property.

“People with unclaimed property that doesn’t meet the $250 threshold, or property that was reported to the state in previous years, are not included in the newspaper insert,” Combs said. “Everyone should check the unclaimed property database at www.ClaimItTexas.org to see if the state is holding their money.”

Combs says one in four Texans has money or other property to claim from the $2 billion in unclaimed property the state is holding. More than 12 million listings from all years can be found online or by calling (800) 654-FIND (3463).

Examples of unclaimed property include dividend, payroll or cashier checks; stocks, bonds and mutual fund accounts; utility deposits and other refunds; insurance proceeds; mineral interest or royalty payments; dormant bank accounts; and abandoned safe deposit box contents.

The North Texas region Unclaimed Property List will appear in the Sunday, Feb, 7, editions of Dallas, Fort Worth, Sherman, Tyler, Longview, Texarkana and Waco newspapers.

The list will  include names of unclaimed property owners from the following counties: Bosque, Bowie, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Clay, Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Erath, Falls, Fannin, Franklin, Freestone, Grayson, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Hill, Hood, Hopkins, Hunt, Jack, Johnson, Kaufman, Lamar, Limestone, Marion, McLennan, Montague, Morris, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Panola, Parker, Rains, Red River, Rockwall, Rusk, Smith, Somervell, Tarrant, Titus, Upshur, Van Zandt, Wise and Wood.