(Part 2 of 2)

One of the primary reasons for the government’s inability to return forgotten money to its owners, they claim, is the fact that they can not be located. Problem is, would would ever think people like Jennifer Lopez, Victoria Beckham, Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, Angelina Jolie ,Marlon Brando, Keanu Reeves, ZsaZsa Gabor and Gerri Halliwell would be difficult to find? Those names and the names of several other famous people are some of the names in the CA missing money database but they haven’t heard from the employees in the California Unclaimed Money Division. They’re all owed checks for unclaimed money by CA ranging in amount from hundreds to the thousands as in the case of Angelina Jolie. This proves once again CA state officials’ interest in holding this money in the general fund for use in balancing the budget deficits for as long as they can. As a matter of fact, there was a recent ruling by a judge on CA abandoned assets, stating that the state wasn’t trying hard enough to locate the rightful owners and for a while halted the state’s s ability to take and hold it until a better policy of returning it to the rightful owners has been adopted.

The total amount of unclaimed money in California averages five billion dollars annually – just imagine how much interest this earns for the state! Bill Palmer, an attorney in Sacramento who has fought in many cases involving California unclaimed property, said the state’s department was intended to be a lost and found for California residents. Instead, it was turned into a profit generating ‘business’ in recent years.

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

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Ill. Residents Have Unclaimed Tax Refunds From ’05 (WBBM Newsradio 780 Chicago)
CHICAGO (AP) – The Internal Revenue Service says it has more than $53 million in unclaimed refunds for Illinois residents who didn’t file 2005 tax returns.

Calif. Withheld Claimed Funds During Budget Talks – KPIX-TV5
If you dont touch money in your bank account for several years the state takes it and holds it for you. They call it unclaimed property. Youd think it was like a giant lost and found box. A CBS Investigation learned during the budget battle the …

IRS Says It Owes Thousands of Nebraskans and Iowans Money – Action3 News
IRS officials report that unclaimed refunds totaling approximately $1.3 billion are due to more a million Americans who did not file a federal income tax return for 2005 alone. The information is based on withholding records kept by the agency, but …