Safe deposit box contents and safe keeping items are turned over to the state of Washington five years after the owner stops paying rent. If the owner does not claim the items, the State must sell the contents at public auction within five years. The Department typically holds an auction every four years. However, we are currently considering holding our next auction in 2010. When the next auction date is confirmed, we will notify subscribers to our Safe deposit Box Auction Notification service. To sign up, go to our Listserv sign-up page.
Our last auction was held in December 2008. At that time, we sold more than 4000 lots with net proceeds of over $545,000. These proceeds were placed in accounts for the owners of the property that was sold.
Sale items usually include collectable coins & currency, jewelry, pocket watches, stamps, silver bars, sports cards, and other collectables. We do not auction land, vehicles or most other tangible property.
If you are interested in other Washington State auctions, visit the General Administration’s Surplus Property web site at www.ga.wa.gov.
