Disposition of unclaimed property

§ 2575. Disposition of unclaimed property (a) The Secretary of any military department, and the Secretary of the Treasury, under such regulations as they may respectively prescribe, may each by public or private sale or otherwise, dispose of all lost, abandoned, or unclaimed personal property that comes into the custody or control of his department, other than property subject to section 4712, 4713, 6522, 9712, or 9713 of this title or subject to subsection (c) of this section. However, property may not be disposed of until diligent effort has been made to find the owner, his heirs or next of kin, or his legal representative, nor until one year after the date when the property is received at a storage point designated by the Secretary. If the owner, his heirs or next of kin, or his legal representative is determined but not found, the property may not be disposed of until the expiration of 120 days after the date when notice, giving the time and place of the intended sale or other disposition, has been sent by registered mail to that person at his last known address. (b) The net proceeds from the sale of property under this section shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. The owner, his heirs or next of kin, or his legal representative may file a claim for those proceeds with the General Accounting Office within five years after the date of the disposal of the property. If not filed within that period, such a claim may not be considered by a court or the General Accounting Office. (c) No property covered by this section may be delivered to the Soldiers’ Home by the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of the Air Force, except papers of value, sabers, insignia, decorations, medals, watches, trinkets, manuscripts, and other articles valuable chiefly as keepsakes. The Home shall deliver the property to the owner, his heirs or next of kin, or his legal representative, if he establishes a right to it within two years after its receipt by the Home.