The California State Controller’s office estimates that by 2018 the unclaimed money total in California will exceed $9 billion. In 2016 alone the state received over $700 million in unclaimed money and unclaimed property. According to the California State Website, unclaimed property is defined as any financial asset that has been left inactive by the owner for a period of time specified in the law which is usually three years. In California this does not include real estate or unused gift cards according to their laws. The laws in California were designed to protect consumers and allow the state to create an unclaimed money database as well as a system designed to allow users simplified search and claiming processes. Prior to these laws companies could hold these funds and use them however they wanted, also creating different claiming processes making it more difficult to find these claims.
The State of California has three different classifications of unclaimed money and unclaimed property:
Properties with a “P”
These are properties sent to the State for safekeeping as required by law. These properties may be claimed through the process outlined on our website. Click on the link in the ID Number column to see the Property Details and access the Claim Form. There are two methods for filing your claim:
- Claim electronically: If your claim is eligible, you will be given the option to file electronically after you have entered the requested information for your claim. For more information.
- Mail Claim Form: If your claim is not eligible to be filed electronically, or you prefer to file a paper claim, follow the instructions to print and mail in your claim form. For more information.
Properties with an “N”
These are properties still in the possession of the business that will be sent to the State for safekeeping unless the owner contacts the business to recover the property or reactivate the account within the timeframe indicated in the Notice Details. You may contact the business to reactivate or recover the account free of charge. Click on the “Details” link in the ID Number column to get the Business’ Contact Information. Investigators are not allowed to contract with a property owner to help the owner recover properties that a business has reported to the state but the state has yet to receive. In the interest of protecting the privacy of potential property owners and giving them an opportunity to claim their property from the holder, we will no longer disclose the specific amount reported by the holder until it is turned over to the state.Properties with an “I”
These are properties that the business is required to transfer to the State because the owner did not contact the business to recover the property or reactivate the account within the required timeframe. These properties are currently unavailable to be claimed as they are in the process of transferring to the State. When the property is available to be claimed, the “I” will be replaced with a “P”. Click on the “Details” link in the ID Number column to find out more about the “Interim Details” property. In the interest of protecting the privacy of potential property owners and giving them an opportunity to claim their property from the holder, we will no longer disclose the specific amount reported by the holder until it is turned over to the state.