Unclaimed property presents significant challenges to resource-constrained government agencies across the country. These include escheatment, bad employee morale, and poor use of time. It is particularly challenging for courts, which have a unique pace and rhythm and a set of requirements that are different from other agencies. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the benefits of modernizing your payment disbursem*nts, as well as highlight success stories from courts that have done this effectively.
What Is Unclaimed Property?
Unclaimed property refers to property or accounts within financial institutions or companies in which there has been no activity generated regarding the property for one year or longer. After the property becomes unclaimed, it must be turned over to the state. According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, $5 billion in unclaimed property is returned to states annually. Uncashed checks are one of the most common forms of unclaimed property, yet paper checks are still commonly used by governments. When courts send paper checks as payment, the number of returned checks is tremendous. The ever-growing stack of returned checks on their desks for jury payments, child support, and restitution is one of the biggest stressors faced by court finance teams.
Why Modernization Matters
There are several reasons why a check might be returned by the USPS, and when it is, it becomes part of the growing pile that the finance team must deal with. They must call the payee, track down a forwarding address, reprint, and remail the check. After all those steps, the check is still highly likely to be sent back again, which leads to unclaimed property.
Tyler’s digital disbursem*nts solution is the contactless way to disburse accurate payments to everyone on time, no matter the transaction type. Digital disbursem*nts reduce the risk of check fraud and stolen and lost checks, and perhaps most importantly, decrease headaches related to unclaimed property and escheatment.
Let’s explore three examples of governments that have leveraged digital disbursem*nts to reduce unclaimed property.
Learn More About Disbursem*nts for Courts
Court Funds is the contactless way to disburse payments to everyone accurately and on time, no matter what part of the transaction they play a part in — jury payments, restitution, child support, bonds, witnesses, and more.
Updating Disbursem*nts: Brazoria County’s Success With Tyler’s Court Funds
Brazoria County, Texas, has seen remarkable success using Court Funds, Tyler’s digital disbursem*nts solution for courts. Tyler tracks unclaimed property after 90 days and returns it to the county, streamlining a once tedious and time-consuming process. County officials have indicated the switch from outdated paper checks to electronic card payments has resulted in cost and time savings, and it has also allowed them to modernize their Treasurer’s Office. Brazoria County enjoys working with Tyler and team members are happy they made the switch!
Modernizing Juror Payments: How Mohave County Streamlined Operations and Saved Costs
The Mohave County, Arizona, Clerk of the Superior Court’s office is responsible for all the civil and criminal court records for the Mohave County Superior Court. The second largest county in Arizona, Mohave County averages three to four jury trials per week and pays an estimated 300 jurors per month. Switching to Court Funds has saved Mohave County a tremendous amount of time and money. Before implementing Court Funds, the escheatment process was a huge hurdle. It involved tracking checks that were sent out and sending follow-up letters to jurors who failed to cash them. Now that the process is digital, it has made the yearly escheatment process obsolete — a huge win for county staff.
Read Mohave County's success story here.
Efficiency in Child Support Disbursem*nts: How Whitfield County Transformed Payment Processes
Whitfield County is known in Georgia as a divorce capital, made evident by the number of child support cases. Despite issuing up to 800 child support checks per month, the biggest challenge facing the clerk’s office was not the number of checks being disbursed; it was the amount not being cashed. To avoid escheatment, employees would first reach out to the child support recipient and make every effort to ensure he or she claimed the payment due to them. Doing so often required considerable time and effort. With Court Funds, payments are now loaded on a card so the clerk’s office can verify the payee received the money. This has saved the office a has reclaimed hours of inefficiency.
Read Whitfield County's success story here.
Embracing Digital Disbursem*nts: Revolutionizing Government Efficiency and Security
Gone are the days that courts were required to use paper checks to disburse funds to residents. Today, modern government agencies are turning to digital disbursem*nts solutions like Tyler’s Court Funds software to make payouts instantly and securely, significantly reducing or eliminating unclaimed property. Without the headaches of unclaimed property, government staff have more time and resources to dedicate to other important matters.
