Texas owes 1 in 4 residents cash. Are you one?

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The state of Texas has $4 billion in other people's money just sitting there waiting to be claimed. Some of that cash could belong to you. So how do you get your money back?

The website you need to remember is www.ClaimItTexas.org. Even if you don't think you have any cash sitting around in Austin, put in your name, you just might find a jackpot.

Ronny Killen works hard at his popular Pearland barbecue restaurant. But on Wednesday, we were helping him score an easy $100 just by entering his name into a website.

"I'm surprised. I mean, I did not know anything about it," said Killen.

We asked Ronny to enter his name into www.ClaimItTexas.org, where the state keeps billions of dollars in unclaimed money.

Moments later Ronny learned the state's holding $100 in his name. His advice now?

"If you think you are owed money or have money, take a look," said Killen.

It turns out one in four Texans has money that they never knew about sitting with the State Comptroller's Office. The state updates the website every six months. The money never goes away, but to get it you have to search the site and claim your cash.

"The average claim is $1,000. You can find 25 cents, you can find $5,000," said Diana Diaz with Claim It Texas.

Diaz adds the money can be from forgotten refunds, old accounts, long ago rebates, hospital bill over payments, or in the case of a business, a vendor check that never made it into the right hands.

Your first and last name are all that you need to start a search, and married women are advised to also try using their maiden names.

If money is there, just fill out a form and mail it to the State Comptroller's Office.

"And then we are going to send you a check within 30 to 60 days," said Diaz.