(Part 1 of 2)

The California’s unclaimed money department takes in about $300 million every year. Why should you care? 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), some of that big heap of CA unclaimed money might very well be yours!

Under the California unclaimed property (or escheat) law, lost money such as 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 Department if the rightful owners don’t locate them within a certain time period. This ‘dormancy period’ varies widely from state to state, but in CA it’s three years. These lost assets then get moved to the CA unclaimed property div, where they stay in the state’s general fund until they’re returned to their rightful owners. This is where officials working for the state in-charge of the CA unclaimed cash were recently criticized. Seems that they were all to happy to locate and collect the lost assets from the establishments holding on to them but but were less than enthusiastic about locating the owners in the CA unclaimed money database.

(to be continued)

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Virginia May Owe You Hundreds of Dollars – WCAV

Virginia May Owe You Hundreds of Dollars WCAV, VA - Dec 3, 2008 One out of seven Virginians has unclaimed property. Charlottesville's Treasurer and City Council invited the state unclaimed property outreach team to City …

Founder of Found Money, Edward Palonek and Santa Claus Find People … – Free Press Release Center (press release)

Founder of Found Money, Edward Palonek and Santa Claus Find People … Free Press Release Center (press release), Canada - Dec 4, 2008 What a great Christmas gift, finding some of your missing money', says Palonek. 'Foundmoney was the first company to make the national database of unclaimed …

Tour of 72 counties returns millions in assets – Superior Telegram

Tour of 72 counties returns millions in assets Superior Telegram, MN - Dec 4, 2008 Under Wisconsin law, after one to five years of inactivity Wisconsin businesses are mandated to turn all unclaimed money, stock and safe deposit boxes to …

Unclaimed Money To Rise To RM95 Million This Year – Bernama

Unclaimed Money To Rise To RM95 Million This Year Bernama, Malaysia - Dec 4, 2008 KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (Bernama) — The amount of unclaimed money under the Unclaimed Money Registry is expected to go up to RM95 million this year, …

(Part 2 of 2)

The total dollar amount for these funds in CA averages five billion dollars annually – imagine the amount of interest this generates for the state! Sacramento attorney Bill Palmer who has fought in a number of cases involving California unclaimed funds, said the state’s program was created to be a lost and found of sorts for Californians. Sadly, it has been turned into a profit earning ‘business’ in recent years.

The hold on the taking of property by California has recently been lifted and the new CA State Controller, John Chiang, is making extra efforts in the form of widespread reforms in improving how his office deals with California unclaimed money. There is still a great need though for Californians and residents of all other states across the U.S. to learn about the presence of these properties and on how to do a thorough search for them and take back what belongs to them.

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State Treasurer has millions of dollars in unclaimed property – Wausau Daily Herald

State Treasurer has millions of dollars in unclaimed property Wausau Daily Herald, WI - 21 hours ago Under Wisconsin law, after one to five years of inactivity, Wisconsin businesses are required to turn all unclaimed money, stock and safe deposit boxes to …

M’sia Will Not Slip Into Full Recession, Says Dr M (Sin Chew Jit Poh)
Malaysia will not slip into full recession next year if the country’s economy is well managed by the government, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today. …

Man's Suspicious Request About Unclaimed Money Prompts Warning – Hartford Courant

Man's Suspicious Request About Unclaimed Money Prompts Warning Hartford Courant, United States - Nov 10, 2008 The reports list names and addresses of people who are owed unclaimed money, and sometimes Social Security numbers. That raises concern about the potential …

Virginia May Owe You Hundreds of Dollars – WCAV

Virginia May Owe You Hundreds of Dollars WCAV, VA - 17 hours ago One out of seven Virginians has unclaimed property. Charlottesville's Treasurer and City Council invited the state unclaimed property outreach team to City …

(Part 1 of 2)

The state of California’s unclaimed money program takes in roughly $300 million each year. Why does it matter to you? Well, if you or anyone you know is or ever was a resident of the Golden State (or ever had any type of business dealings, whether you knew it or not), part of that big heap of California missing money could easily be yours!

Under the CA 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 handed over to the Treasury Department if their owners don’t come for them within a certain time period. This ‘dormancy period’ varies from state to state, but in California it’s 3 years. These lost assets then head to the California unclaimed property div, where they sit in the state’s general fund until they are returned to the rightful owners. This is where state employees in-charge of the California unclaimed cash were criticized recently. It appears that they were all to happy to track down and take hold of the lost funds from the establishments holding on to them but but were less than enthusiastic about contacting the actual owners in the California unclaimed funds list.

One of the main reasons for the inability of government to return forgotten cash to its owners, according to the government, is that they can’t be located. The issue is, who would think that people like Jennifer Lopez, Victoria Beckham, Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, Angelina Jolie ,Marlon Brando, Keanu Reeves, ZsaZsa Gabor and Gerri Halliwell would be hard to find? Their names and the names of a number of other famous people are just some of the names in the California missing money database but they haven’t been contacted by the employees at the California Unclaimed Funds Division. They are all owed checks for forgotten funds by California amounting from hundreds to the thousands in Ms. Jolie’s case. This just shows California state employees’ interest in keeping this money in the general fund for use in balancing the budget deficit for as long as they can. In fact, there was recently a ruling by a federal judge on CA abandoned cash, saying that the state was not trying hard enough to return it to its rightful owners and for a while halted the ability of the state to seize it until a new policy of reuniting it with the rightful owners was enacted.

(to be continued)

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Winning lottery ticket still unclaimed (Elk Grove Times)
A winning lottery ticket at an Elk Grove Village gas station remains unclaimed, leaving the potentially lucky winner a mystery.

Money Still Available From Unclaimed Stimulus Checks (KSLA-TV Shreveport)
SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) – There’s money up for grabs, as IRS says some people still haven’t claimed their economic stimulus checks from earlier this year.

Offbeat News (The West Australian)
Two unclaimed designer bridesmaid’s dresses that failed to arrive by post for a wedding are among items to be auctioned this weekend in Melbourne.