“Unclaimed money” isn’t a myth. You can actually discover you have money or assets to claim. Often consumers don’t learn about unclaimed property due to them until they are approached by companies promising to help locate and retrieve unclaimed funds. While
there are legitimate companies offering this type of service, there are others known for misleading consumers, charging high fees, or worse – taking upfront fees and not providing any service at all. Unclaimed property can be any financial asset or sum of
money that appears to have been abandoned by the owner. Some typical types of unclaimed property include; utility deposits (very common), credit balances, store refunds; un-cashed dividend, payroll or cashier’s checks; stock certificates or accounts, bonds,
mutual fund accounts; life insurance policy proceeds; undistributed wages; checking and savings accounts, or even court payments or deposits.
Each state handles the reporting and collection of unclaimed property and
each state has its own laws and methods for recovering unclaimed property. State laws require financial institutions, public utilities, and various other entities to report personal property considered abandoned or unclaimed. The account or property must
have been inactive for some period of time specified by state law, and the whereabouts of the owner must be unknown. Some companies may advertise that they will go out and search for unclaimed property on your behalf. Many of these firms are totally honest
and offer good services. However, watch out for firms that have already found unclaimed property belonging to you and want to charge you to recover it. More often than not, if you can find it, and prove it’s yours, you can claim it yourself.
California’s Unclaimed Property Law,
California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1500 , requires corporations, businesses, associations, financial institutions, and insurance companies (referred to as “Holders”) to annually report and deliver property to the State Controller’s Office after
there has been no activity on the account or contact with the owner for a period of time specified in the law—generally three (3) years. Often, contact is lost when the owner forgets that the account exists, or moves and does not leave a forwarding address.
Specific laws also apply to this industry concerning fees and contract disclosures. For property, or funds in California, locators cannot charge you more than 10% of the value of the property. The only exception to this is for California Counties Probated
Estates where there is no limit on fees. If you receive notification that you might have unclaimed funds and for a small fee the company will help you locate them, use caution. You can expect to receive a list of agencies able to provide information
about unclaimed funds. If anything is found, a higher fee will be required for the company to help claim these, sometimes up to 50 percent of the unclaimed property. Any contract signed with this type of company must disclose to you the type, location and
amount of unclaimed funds owed to you.
The
Business Consumer Alliance advises that unclaimed property can, in most cases, be attained without help—for free. There is not always a need to pay or use a third party to receive unclaimed property. If you take a few minutes, you can claim the unclaimed
property yourself at no cost! The
California State Controller’s Office provides an online search tool for unclaimed property. You can also file a claim online. If you are in need of further information please contact their Call Center between 8 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday
through Friday, excluding
state holidays at (800) 992-4647 (Nationwide) or (916) 323-2827 (Outside of US), or you may contact them by
email.
Related articles