(Part 2 of 2)

One of the main reasons for the government’s inability give back forgotten cash to residents, they say, is that they can not be located. The 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 some of the names in the California missing money list and yet they have never heard from the employees in the California Unclaimed Money Division. They’re all owed checks for lost assets by California amounting from hundreds to the thousands as in the case of Angelina Jolie. This proves once again California state employees’ interest in keeping this cash in the general fund for them to balance the budget deficits for as long as they possibly can. As a matter of fact, there was a recent ruling by a federal judge on CA abandoned cash, stating that the state wasn’t doing enough to locate the rightful owners and has temporarily halted the state’s s ability to seize it until a better policy of reuniting it with the rightful owners was enacted.

The total dollar amount for these funds in California averages $5 billion annually – just imagine the amount of interest this generates for the state! Bill Palmer, an attorney in Sacramento who has battled in a number of 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 earning ‘business’ in recent years.

The hold on the taking of property by California has since been removed and the new California State Controller, John Chiang, is making greater efforts in the form of sweeping changes in improving how his office handles California unclaimed money. There is still a dire need though for Californians and Americans in all states across the U.S. to be informed about the presence of these funds and on how to perform a thorough search for them.

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Check Indiana’s unclaimed money website for unknown windfall – Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE — Anyone looking for an unexpected windfall can check a legitimate website with information posted by the Indiana attorney general. At www.IndianaUnclaimed.com, more than $350 million in assets are listed in the state’s database. That …

Legislation to help charities moving through Ohio House
State legislation designed to help charities benefit through the distribution of unclaimed funds from class-action lawsuits continues to make its way through the Ohio House of Representatives.

Unclaimed property in Mitchell County
Story created May 25, 2010 – 15:02:18 CDT. In most cases, a top 10 list only fills your head with bits of trivia, but the one compiled by State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald can actually add money to your pocket. His list contains the top 10 unclaimed properties in Mitchell County.