Types of unclaimed property businesses leave behind
Updated
The Controller sorts every record by property type. These are the ones that matter most for businesses, with what California holds for business-type owners owed $10,000 or more.
| Kind of property | Owners with some | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Uncashed vendor checks and accounts payable | 2,917 | $64.3M |
| Customer credits, overpayments and refunds | 2,530 | $53.8M |
| Dormant business bank accounts and CDs | 3,525 | $129.8M |
| Securities, dividends and stock | 4,615 | $179.2M |
| Insurance refunds, benefits and proceeds | 4,524 | $129.6M |
| Utility deposits, refunds and security deposits | 418 | $10.1M |
| Payroll, wage and commission checks | 608 | $12.6M |
| Uncashed cashier's checks and bank-issued checks | 2,360 | $62.8M |
| Escrow, court and settlement funds | 760 | $18.2M |
| Royalties and mineral payments | 364 | $8.6M |
Source: California State Controller unclaimed property file, records of $500 and up, dated November 4, 2026. Open records only (no claim pending or paid), owner address in California, owner = name + ZIP code, business-type names only, government names removed, owners whose records total $10,000 or more. RecoverOwed computation; classifying owners by name pattern is approximate. No individual owner is named on this site. Owners can appear in more than one row. "Business-type" includes companies, trusts and estates.