Important Notices

January 18, 2008

State Controller's Office (SCO) to Begin Mailing Unclaimed Property Owner Notices

The State Controller’s Office (SCO) has requested the asssistance of the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) to notify businesses and financial institutions of various changes concerning California’s Unclaimed Property Program. The following message is from the SCO:

This is to inform holders that the State Controller’s Office (SCO) will begin sending notices on January 17, 2008, to property owners listed on the 2007 Holder Notice Reports. In accordance with the provisions of Senate Bill 86, the notice will advise owners that property has been reported to which they appear to be entitled, and to contact the holder to prevent their property from being transferred to the State Controller’s Office. (sample owner notice attached (GIF Image))

The deadline for the SCO to complete sending these notices to owners is April 15, 2008. The SCO will attempt to send notices in advance of the deadline to the extent possible to provide holders with adequate time to respond to inquiries from owners. Holders must refund or reactivate owner properties when the property owner contacts them prior to the date required to remit the property to the SCO which is no sooner than June 1, 2008, and no later than June 15, 2008. This notice process is intended to allow owners to be reunited with their property prior to the transfer of their property to the SCO.

For owners that contact the holder and claim their property or reinstate their accounts, the holder will not remit the property to the SCO when the Holder Remit Report is submitted. The Holder Remit Report is due annually between June 1 and June 15 and between December 1 and December 15 for Life Insurance Companies. Complete instructions for the Holder Remit reports will be available on our web site at www.sco.ca.gov later this month.

If you have questions regarding this notice, please call the Unclaimed Property Reporting Unit at (916) 464-6284 or email ucpreporting@sco.ca.gov. You may also subscribe to our e-mail list if you would like to receive automatic updates.