(Part 1 of 2)

The California’s unclaimed money program takes in roughly 300 million dollars annually. Why should you care? Well, if you or anyone 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), part of that massive pile of Cali unclaimed money could easily be yours!

Under the state of California unclaimed funds law, missing money such as forgotten checking and savings accounts, uncashed checks and money orders, mineral deposits, salary checks, cash and stock dividends, state of California unclaimed tax refunds, gift certificates, and other assets are passed along to the Treasury Department if the rightful owners don’t come for them within a given period. This ‘dormancy period’ varies from state to state, but in Cali it’s 3 years. These lost assets then go to the California unclaimed property div, where they stay in the state’s general fund until they’re returned to the people they truly belong to. This is where officials working for the state in-charge of the Cali unclaimed cash were criticized recently. It appears that they have been eager to track down and take hold of the lost assets from the various establishments holding on to them but but weren’t so keen on contacting the owners in the Cali unclaimed money database.

One of the main reasons for the government’s inability give back forgotten cash to its owners, they say, is the fact that they can not be located. Problem is, who would think that people like ZsaZsa Gabor, Angelina Jolie, Victoria Beckham, Gerri Halliwell, Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Lopez, Adam Sandler and Marlon Brando could be hard to locate? Those names and the names of a number of other famous people are just some of the names in the Cali missing money list and yet they have never heard from the employees at the California Unclaimed Property Division. They’re all owed checks for unclaimed money by Cali ranging in amount from hundreds to the thousands as in the case of Angelina Jolie. This just proves Cali state employees’ interest in holding this cash in the general fund for use in balancing the budget deficits for as long as they can. In fact, there was a recent ruling by a federal judge on CA abandoned money, saying that the state was not trying hard enough to return it to its rightful owners and has temporarily halted the ability of the state to take and hold it until a new policy of reuniting it with the actual owners was adopted.

(to be continued)

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Nevada nets $50 million from unclaimed property – MSN Money
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) – Nevada’s coffers are $50 million richer because of proceeds from unclaimed property. State Treasure Kate Marshall says the amount is $12 million, or 23 percent, more than anticipated this spring by the Economic Forum. The …

Do You Have Unclaimed Assests? (WEEK-TV Peoria)
This could be your chance to grab some unclaimed money. State officials say the Treasurer’s Office is holding approximately 1.4–billin dollars in unclaimed assets and 14–million of it belongs to Peoria County residents or their relatives.

Harry Gross: Getting $$ from dad’s estate – Philadelphia Daily News
Dear Harry: My father passed away 19 years ago in New Jersey. I am his only child and was the executrix of his will. All items were taken care of at that time, and all his assets were properly transferred to me. About five months ago, I came across …

Consumer agencies launch “international internet sweep” – Securecomputing.net.au
…armed only with the humble search engine. Australia’s competition watchdog is one of several worldwide agencies that has set up a taskforce to target websites making misleading or fraudulent claims to consumers, in what is being called an …

Unclaimed funds in state have reached $27 million – Dickinson Press & Advertiser
Forgotten and missing funds such as uncashed paychecks, dormant bank accounts, and stocks and bonds containing anywhere from $50 to thousands of dollars could be waiting for hundreds of area residents. Since 1975, North Dakota has been accumulating …