(Part 2 of 2)

One of the main reasons for the government’s inability give back forgotten cash to its owners, they say, is the fact that they cannot be tracked down. Problem is, who would think people like ZsaZsa Gabor, Angelina Jolie, Victoria Beckham, Gerri Halliwell, Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Lopez, Adam Sandler and Marlon Brando could be difficult to locate? Those names and the names of a number of other famous people are some of the names in the CA missing money list but they have not been contacted by the officials in the California Unclaimed Property Division. They’re all owed checks for lost assets by CA amounting from hundreds to the thousands in Ms. Jolie’s case. This proves once again CA state employees’ interest in holding this cash in the general fund for use in balancing the budget deficit for as long as they possibly can. In fact, there was a recent ruling by a federal judge on CA abandoned money, stating 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 seize it until a better policy of reuniting it with the actual owners was enacted.

The total dollar amount for these funds in California averages $5 billion annually – just imagine how much interest that earns for the state! Bill Palmer, an attorney in Sacramento who has represented many cases involving CA unclaimed money, has said that the state’s program was supposed to be a lost and found for California residents. Instead, it was turned into a profit making ‘business’ in the past few years.

The hold on the seizure of property by California has recently been removed and the new CA State Controller, John Chiang, is making extra efforts in the form of sweeping changes in improving how his office is handling CA 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 properties and on how to perform a thorough search for them.

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Businesses Face Filing Deadlines for Unclaimed Property – MSN Money
“At Ryan, we see a new trend of states today aggressively focused on unclaimed property collections as a significant source of revenue,” said Noel E. Hall, Jr. , Ryan Principal and Practice Leader for the unclaimed and abandoned property service line …

$1 credit due taxpayers required by Constitution – Honolulu Star-Bulletin
… been able to get a response from the state Department of Taxation about how much would be at stake if every qualified person did not take the credit, what happens to the unclaimed money or whether the department actually sends out $1 checks to …

Education fund hits the jackpot – RichmondBizSense
According to Virginia Lottery spokesperson John Hagerty, tickets often go unclaimed, especially those for less money, such as $2 or $3. However, he also said that a lot of people don’t know the exact rules of playing the lottery, especially when …

Find unclaimed property owed to you
Billions of dollars in cash and property are just sitting out there waiting for you to claim

State aides to offer help in gaining unclaimed funds
OLEAN–Does New York State owe you money? State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli reports that the state has $9.9 billion in unclaimed funds, and he’s sending representatives from his offices to events across the state to help give it back.