Hermosa Beach, You May Have Money Owed From State, County

HERMOSA BEACH, CA — Now that you've filed your taxes, you should check to see if the county or state has any of your money. Thousands of dollars in checks from the county, state and other entities go unclaimed each year, mostly because of incorrect address information or mail that isn't forwarded.

The unclaimed property ranges from orphaned 401(k) accounts to unclaimed payroll checks to safe deposit box contents and mineral interests. According to a 2014 study, the latest year available, by SmartAsset.com, a consumer financial advice website, there was approximately $49.5 billion worth of unclaimed property in the U.S., which is roughly the market value of FedEx.

California currently has more than $8 billion in unclaimed property belonging to approximately 32.5 million individuals and organizations, according to the California State Controller's Office. The good news is that the state is required to hold on to the fund in perpetuity until the rightful owner or heirs can be found.

The office has an unclaimed property website with a searchable database for people to find and reclaim any property that might be theirs. Through the site, www.claimit.ca.gov, people can either contact the business holding their property to reclaim it or reclaim it directly from the state, if the property has been turned over to the state. The Controller's Office has recently expanded the database to include potential owners of property held in bank safety deposit boxes, such as saving bonds and military medals.

“Each day, my team is returning hundreds of thousands of dollars to people who had not known it was missing. Expanding the unclaimed property database provides greater opportunity for U.S. savings bonds and military awards to be returned to their rightful owners,” California Controller Betty Yee said.

Los Angeles County has a similar website as well, but it's only for unclaimed monies from checks issued by the county. These funds range from property tax refunds to refunds for overpayment on services. A cursory search of the data shows that there are several Hermosa Beach residents and businesses with money owed to them. The highest amount owed by the county belongs to Harold B. Rothman Trust ($10,798.72), and the lowest belongs to Shannon Gorman ($11.46).

Click here to visit the site to see if the county owes you any money.

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