(Part 1 of 2)

The California’s unclaimed money program takes in roughly three hundred million dollars each year. Why should you care? Well, if you or someone you know is or ever was a resident of the Golden State (or had any kind of business dealings, whether you were aware of it or not), part of that big heap of CA lost assets might very well be yours!

Under the state of California unclaimed funds law, abandoned assets 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 Department of the Treasury if their owners don’t come for them within a given period. This ‘dormancy period’ varies from state to state, but in CA it’s 3 years. These abandoned assets then get moved to the CA unclaimed property division, where they sit in the state’s general fund until they are returned to their rightful owners. This is where state employees who handled CA unclaimed cash were recently criticized. It seems that they were eager to track down and take hold of the lost assets from the various establishments holding them but but weren’t so keen on locating the actual owners in the CA unclaimed money list.

(to be continued)

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Does the state owe you money? – Register-Star
Residents will be able to find out if they are owed some of New York’s $9.9 billion in unclaimed funds at events across the state this month, including two events in the twin counties. “New York has $9.9 billion in unclaimed fund accounts …

Texas Unclaimed Property Fund Hits $2 Billion (NBC Dallas Fort Worth)
Think you have some money coming to you? You may … the Texas unclaimed property fund has hit $2 billion.

Wash. residents have stake in unclaimed property (Seattle Times)
You may be one of about 3 million current or former Washington residents who have a stake in $700 million in unclaimed property being held by the state’s Department of Revenue.

Q&A: Third party not needed to collect unclaimed funds – St. Petersburg Times
I have been contacted by an organization from Pennsylvania telling me it has found unclaimed funds in my name in New Jersey. Is this a legitimate business or a scam? We won’t comment on that company’s motives, but generally speaking, there is no need …

Does the state owe you money? (Register-Star)
Residents will be able to find out if they are owed some of New York’s $9.9 billion in unclaimed funds at events across the state this month, including two events in the twin counties.