Californians are missing out on more than $11 billion in unclaimed property, according to State Controller Malia Cohen.
In February, California announced it’s partnering with missingmoney.com, where residents can search for unclaimed property across 48 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Where Does Unclaimed Property Come From?
Unclaimed property often comes from bank accounts, stocks, checks and wages that haven’t been touched for a certain period of time, according to the State Controller's Office.
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Businesses like banks, insurance companies and corporations are required to report unclaimed money to the State Controller’s Office when there’s no activity on the funds, usually for three years.
How to Find Unclaimed Property
Searching for your unclaimed money is pretty simple in California. You’ll need to include a name and address when conducting the search.
Now, Californians can search other state databases with just their first and last name through missingmoney.com.
This means if you've done business in other states, you can search in a single database to check if you have unclaimed funds across the country.
How to Retrieve Unclaimed Property
Claiming your property in California is free and can often be done online if you’re the owner of the property.
Once you find your unclaimed funds in the California database, you’ll need to file the necessary paperwork, either online or via a paper claim.
Californians can also claim property belonging to a deceased family member, if they are an heir, trustee or personal representative. In this case, you'll be asked to provide documentation showing proof of ownership.
For more information on unclaimed property in California, click here.
What About Unclaimed Money in San Diego County?
In San Diego County, the Treasurer-Tax Collector keeps record of overpayment on property taxes.
If an overpayment is not returned to the owner, it ends up in this unclaimed property tax database.
Residents can search for their name or sort by amount across the thousands of entries.
The San Diego County Auditor and Controller also keeps record of unclaimed money that belongs to organizations or people doing business in the county.
The list of unclaimed money was last updated in February, according to the auditor and controller website.
