(Part 1 of 2)

The state of California’s unclaimed property department takes in approximately $300 million each year. What’s it to you? Well, if you or someone you know is or was a resident of the Golden State (or ever had any type of business dealings, whether you were aware of it or not), a chunk of that big heap of Cali missing money might very well be yours!

Under the state of California unclaimed property law, missing money like forgotten savings and checking accounts, cash and stock dividends, mineral deposits, uncashed checks and money orders, state of California unclaimed tax refunds, salary checks, gift certificates, and other assets are passed along to the Treasury Dept. if the rightful owners don’t locate them within a certain time period. This ‘dormancy period’ varies widely from state to state, but in Cali it is 3 years. These lost assets then head to the CA unclaimed property division, where they sit in the state’s general fund until they are returned to the people they truly belong to. This is where state employees in-charge of the Cali unclaimed cash were recently criticized. It seems that they were eager to track down and take hold of the lost assets from the establishments holding them but but were less than enthusiastic about locating the actual owners in the Cali unclaimed funds list.

(to be continued)

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