Californians own billions of dollars in unclaimed property

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(The Center Square) – According to the California State Controller’s Office, residents of the Golden State collectively own $15 billion in unclaimed property.

The agency announced that letters would be sent to 130,000 Californians who might be owed money through the state’s unclaimed property program. Those who receive letters are identified through the efforts of both the State Controller’s Office and the Franchise Tax Board, according to the State Controller’s Office.

“The state safeguards unclaimed property until the rightful owners can claim it,” said Mariana Carine, assistant press secretary for the State Controller’s Office. “We’re just holding the money for them.”

The unclaimed property held by the State Controller’s Office includes cash from forgotten bank accounts, uncashed checks, insurance benefits, utility deposits and memorabilia and jewelry in safe deposit boxes, Carine said.

Carine added that since unclaimed property doesn’t expire, Californians who are trying to reclaim the property can claim it at any time.

Those who live in the state should check the California controller’s website at least once a year to see if they have any unclaimed money that belongs to them, Carine said.

“This is a very large state,” she added. “It’s business all the time going on, people moving from out of state or inside the state, moving from one region to another, so that has to do a lot with the money that we currently have.”

The current effort to connect Californians with unclaimed property follows a December 2025 effort to reunite 100,000 property owners with $30.4 million in unclaimed property. According to the State Controller’s Unclaimed Property Division, more than $8.37 billion of forgotten property has been returned to Californians.

Matt Fleming, communications director and policy fellow for the Pasadena-based Pacific Research Institute, told The Center Square on Wednesday for those who have money owed to them by companies like utility providers could be more likely to find unclaimed money owed to them through a government service than through more private means.

“I’ve moved around a lot,” Fleming said. “Let’s say someone like [Sacramento Municipal Utility District] or PG&E, some utility company, sends me a reimbursement check like a prorated amount or an overage or something, but I’ve already moved out. So they’ve tried to send it to me, and they can’t find me.”

The state can take that money and act as a conduit to hold that money for people to find and claim, Fleming said.

“Now I have to go search the database,” Fleming added. “I have to spend the time and think to do it in the first place, but I’m more likely to do that with good government outreach than I am to just go and think, ‘Hey, 15 years ago, does SMUD still owe me money?’ ”