State Web Site Aids Hunt for Unclaimed Property

State Controller Kathleen Connell found some money she didn’t know she had--funds left over from a checking account she had during her days as a student at UCLA that had languished for years in the state’s Unclaimed Property Bureau.

Connell was among an estimated 6.9 million individuals and businesses in California that have money or valuables they don’t know about. But thanks to enhancements to the Web page of the controller’s office unveiled Friday, Californians and their property can be more reunited more easily.

The database for the Unclaimed Property Bureau is now online, and users can search by name to see if they have any money coming to them. If a match turns up, they can call the bureau to claim their cash or personal property.

Most often, such property comes from dormant bank accounts, safe deposit boxes, stocks or uncashed dividends, refunds or payroll checks. Under California law, financial institutions must send abandoned assets to the state if the accounts have been inactive for three years.

“We found that the odds of finding unclaimed property are better than winning the Lotto,” Connell said.

Another addition to the bureau’s Web site is a link to the Holocaust Claims Processing Office in New York. The link allows people who believe they may be owed money from Swiss bank accounts frozen during World War II to fill out the paperwork over the Internet.

“Many people who are relatives of Holocaust victims are older and so the inability to access a number of governmental forms is difficult for them,” Connell said. “The reality is that they never have to speak to anyone in government, they never have to call another number. All they have to do is access our Web site and through our Web site we can give them the information that they need.” But the executive director of the Jewish Family Service, which received a grant to assist Holocaust survivors with claiming their funds, said the group has been doing fine without the Web site. “This isn’t the population that uses the Internet,” said Sandra King. “They’re elderly and aren’t familiar with the technology.”

So far, about 250 people have come to Jewish Family Service for help with filling out the 10-page application that they received by calling the Holocaust Claims Processing Office at (800) 695-3318.

“I think many more people will be able to get the application by calling the number. It comes in the mail usually within a week, and the staff in New York is very helpful,” she said. “We’ve gotten a lot of calls. People have a lot of anxiety about getting their application in before the [Nov. 17] deadline. I would encourage people to get the application soon by whatever means.”

Both the unclaimed property database and the link to the Holocaust Claims Processing Office are available at https://www.sco.ca.gov.