I was told that my property was "Reciprocally" sent to another state after initially being sent to California's Unclaimed Property Division. What does this mean?

The address reported to California was that of another state. Because of this fact, and in accordance with a reciprocal agreement with that state, the state of California sent your unclaimed funds to that reported state. You must now contact the state of your reported address to claim your funds.

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I don't know what state that is. Now what do I do?

You may visit the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) website at www.naupa.org. There you will find links to other state's unclaimed property divisions. This is a "no charge" website. You will not be charged for this search.

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I have a stale dated check that was turned over to unclaimed property but I cannot find my name on the database. What do I do now?

Send copy of the check to this office.
Include a cover letter with contact information concerning yourself (i.e.. Name, Address, Telephone #, etc)
Mail to:
California State Controller's Office
Unclaimed Property Division
P.O. Box 942850
Sacramento, California 94250-5873
ATTN: CHECKS RESEARCH

If property is found for your request, you will be mailed a 'Claim Form Affirmation' to fill out and return to this office for evaluation. If nothing is found, you will receive a letter stating that fact.

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I had a savings/checking account that was closed out and turned over to unclaimed property but I cannot find my name on the database. What do I do now?

Send a copy of your passbook (if available) or your most recent Savings Account Statement to this office.
If possible, obtain a "Proof of Delivery" letter from the bank that escheated the account to include the data of delivery to the State Controller's Office and send it as well.
Include a cover letter with contact information concerning yourself (i.e.. Name, Address, Telephone # etc)
Mail to:
California State Controller's Office
Unclaimed Property Division
P.O. Box 942850
Sacramento, California 94250-5873
ATTN: RESEARCH

If property is found for your request, you will be mailed a 'Claim Form Affirmation' to fill out and return to this office for evaluation. If nothing is found, you will receive a letter stating that fact.

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I found my name on your website but there is no address listed with my name. What do I do now?

If you have located property that you believe is rightfully yours but it was escheated to the State of California with no address information provided, you must provide documentation that associates yourself with the reporting holder.

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I am not the only reported owner of property I located on your site. Does the additional reported owner have to sign the affirmation form or can I receive these funds myself?

We need the signatures of all living reported owners before we can legally release the funds. If you are unaware of the location of the additional reported owner(s); you may submit your claim with a letter stating that you are unaware of the whereabouts of the additional reported owner(s) and that you are interested in your percentage of the funds only.

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I am searching for an actual piece of real property (land) that I believe was turned over to the State of California. Why am I not finding this information on your web site?

The California State Controller's Office is not the recipient of actual "land" that is abandoned or otherwise "lost" by an owner or their heirs. What is turned over to the California State Controller's Office, Unclaimed Property Division includes items such as:

• Savings / Checking Accounts
• Money Orders
• Stocks / Dividends / Profit Distributions
• Safe Deposit Box Contents

These items and many others are listed as items that must be escheated under California Unclaimed Property Law. The California State Department that handles the issue of actual "land or property" is the State Department of General Services (DGS). You may reach them at (916) 657-9900. Or you may visit their web site at www.dgs.ca.gov.

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I had a Bearer Bond escheated to the State of California. How do I search for this escheatment when there is no name to associate with it?

Because a majority of Bond funds are escheated through U.S. Bank, please write to them at:

U.S. Bank
Attn: Bond Relations
P.O. Box 6411, 4th Floor
St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0111

Ask them for a "Proof of Delivery" letter to include the year of escheatment. If you prefer, you may contact Bond Relations by telephone at (800) 934-6802.

Once you have received the "Proof of Delivery" letter, please complete the following steps:

Send a copy of the Proof of Delivery to this office.
Include a cover letter with contact information concerning yourself (i.e.. Name, Address, Telephone #, etc)

Mail to:
California State Controller's Office
Unclaimed Property Division
P.O. Box 942850
Sacramento, California 94250-5873
ATTN: BOND RESEARCH UNIT

Once the escheated property is found, you will be mailed a 'Claim Form Affirmation' to fill out and return to this office for evaluation and payment. If nothing is found, you will receive a letter stating that fact.

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Will I be paid interest on the principal amount being held by the Controller's Office?

Effective August 11, 2003, and in accordance with Assembly Bill 1756, Chapter 228 of the Statutes of 2003, "interest will no longer be paid on unclaimed property claims". The payment of interest on all unclaimed property claims approved for payment from July 1, 2003 forward has been eliminated.

Any claims approved prior to July 1, 2003, will be paid interest according to Civil Code of Procedures Section 1540 (c).

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I am looking for funds owed to me by the IRS / Franchise Tax Board. Why am I not able to locate my funds on your website?

The Internal Revenue Service and the State Franchise Board do not escheat property to the State Controller's office. Those funds are held by those agencies.

For information concerning possible property being held by the Internal Revenue Service, you may contact the IRS directly at (800) 829-1040. Or you may visit their web site at WWW.IRS.USTREAS.GOV.

For information concerning possible property being held by the California Franchise Tax Board, you may contact the FTB directly at (800) 852-5711. Or you may visit their web site at WWW.FTB.CA.GOV.

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Why can't I search by Social Security Number?

Addressing the concern you have as to the ability to view one's social security number in the website database, there are privacy laws in the State of California that prohibit the publication of this information. However, if you believe that a certain property may be yours but you still have a question, you may contact us at (916) 323-2827 or (800) 992-4647 toll free within the state of California. We could then verify if your SSN is the number reported to the Controller's office when you provide this information to the operator assisting you.

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Why can't I fax my claim form in to your office?

We regret to inform you that claim packets may not be faxed into this office, as the original signature documents are required for the processing of your claim.

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I was given a reference number by the holder to help locate my escheated funds. Why can I not use this number to search with?

The Controller's Office does not use any numbers assigned by a reporting holder because we receive thousands of reports per year representing the property of hundreds of thousands of owners and there would be too much of a chance of duplication using numbers given by holders. We search our database using the reported owner's name, reported address and, by telephone, social security number only. If this type of query does not produce a result, we can only conclude that the escheated report is not uploaded onto our database and a claim process cannot be started until this is done.

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I have a "stale dated" gift card. Is this money considered "escheatable" under California Unclaimed Property Laws?

Balances on prepaid phone cards are escheatable to the Unclaimed Property Division and are covered under Unclaimed Property Law and Regulations, Code of Civil Procedure, Title 10, Chapter 7, Section 1520.5. 'Gift Certificates' which states, in part:

"Section 1520 applies to any Gift Certificate that has an expiration date and that is given in exchange for money or any other thing of value."

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Why were my funds escheated to you?

The State acquires unclaimed property through California's Unclaimed Property Law, which requires "holders" such as corporations, business associations, financial institutions, and insurance companies to annually report and deliver property to the Controller's Office after there has been no customer contact for three years. Often the owner forgets that the account exists, or moves and does not leave a forwarding address or the forwarding order expires. In some cases, the owner dies and the heirs have no knowledge of the property.

The most common types of Unclaimed Property are:

• Bank accounts and safe deposit box contents
• Stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and dividends
• Uncashed cashier's checks or money orders
• Certificates of deposit
• Matured or terminated insurance policies
• Estates
• Mineral interests and royalty payments, trust funds, and escrow accounts

California Unclaimed Property Law does NOT include real estate property.

The Unclaimed Property law was enacted to prevent holders of Unclaimed Property from using your money and taking it into their business income. This law gives the State an opportunity to return your money and provides California citizens with a single source, the State Controller's Office, to check for Unclaimed Property that may be reported by holders from around the nation.
Businesses and financial institutions (holders) are required to send a notice to your last known address, informing you that your account will be transferred to the State Controller for safekeeping if you do not notify the institution of your intent to maintain your account. If the institution is unable to contact you, or if you fail to contact the institution, your account is remitted to the State. The State Controller's Office will send a notice informing you of your Unclaimed Property, provided it is able to find a more current address by matching your reported Social Security number with the Franchise Tax Board's records. The State Controller publishes a notice in newspapers of general circulation in each county annually to inform California residents that they may have unclaimed property.

Owners or heirs may claim their property directly from the State Controller without any service charges or fees. However, if an heir finder (also known as an investigator or asset locator) represents you, he or she may charge you a fee not to exceed 10% of the value of the property, per Section 1582 of California's Unclaimed Property Law.

You may read more by reading Unclaimed Property Law and Regulations on this web site under "Unclaimed Property" then "Laws & Regulations" www.sco.ca.gov.

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