Unclaimed Property in Burbank, California: $51.3 Million

• The State Controller holds 55,313 unclaimed property records for Burbank, worth $51,356,685 combined.
• 544 of those records are worth $10,000 or more; the average record is worth $928.
• There is no deadline to claim California unclaimed property, except for estates already permanently escheated to the State.
• By law, a recovery fee for property reported under §1530 cannot exceed 10 per cent of what is recovered, and nothing can be charged before the State pays.
• The largest single reporters of Burbank property include Metlife, Anthem, Citibank and two Interinsurance Exchange entities tied to the Automobile Club.

How much unclaimed property is held for Burbank residents?

The California State Controller currently lists 55,313 property records tied to Burbank, with a combined value of $51,356,685. The average record is worth $928, but the totals are not evenly spread. 544 of those records are worth $10,000 or more, and it is these larger records that usually justify the trouble of gathering documents and filing a claim.

These figures come from the Controller’s own downloadable property records, refreshed periodically, and they change as new property is reported and old property is claimed. A record under your name, a past address, or a former employer’s name is worth checking directly rather than guessing from the county total.

Which companies reported the most Burbank property?

Unclaimed property usually starts with a business, insurer or bank that lost contact with the owner. In Burbank, the largest reporters by dollar value include Metlife Inc. (839 records, $919,190), Gep Administrative Services Inc. Dba En (1,485 records, $435,662), Citibank N A (582 records, $389,385), Anthem Inc. (742 records, $369,496), and two Interinsurance Exchange Of The Automobile Club entities (707 records worth $157,435, and 623 records worth $157,312).

If you once held an insurance policy, a payroll account, or a bank relationship with any of these organizations while living in or near Burbank, that is a reasonable place to start looking.

What kinds of property show up most often?

The largest categories by dollar value in Burbank are Accounts Payable (2,953 records, $3,019,408), Wages, Payroll, Salaries (4,434 records, $2,223,835), Refunds Due (2,899 records, $1,495,008), Premium Refunds (3,506 records, $1,487,084), Credit Bal – Accts Receivable (2,238 records, $1,267,133), and Misc Outstanding Checks (2,692 records, $1,140,786).

Wages and payroll typically point to a final paycheck or bonus that never reached a departing employee. Premium refunds and accounts payable more often trace to insurers and vendors that closed out an account and could not locate a forwarding address. None of these require the original object to still exist. What the State holds is a dollar figure recorded against a name.

Is there a deadline to claim it?

No. California places no deadline on claiming unclaimed property, and the State holds it indefinitely until the owner or an heir comes forward (State Controller, Unclaimed Property). The one exception is an estate that has already been permanently escheated, meaning the State has taken title outright. That property is no longer recoverable, and no agreement can revive it. Everything else on this page, including money reported decades ago, remains claimable today with no clock running against it.

What does it cost to have someone else file the claim?

California law caps the fee for locating, delivering or recovering property reported under Code of Civil Procedure §1530 at 10 per cent of what is recovered (CCP §1582(a)(2)(C)). That cap does not reach every dollar the State holds: estates that pass to the Controller through county probate arrive under the Probate Code instead, and the Controller states there are no fee restrictions on investigators filing for the owners or heirs of those probated estates (CCP §1582(a)(1)).

Two further protections apply regardless of the size of the fee. No agreement can require payment before the Controller approves the claim and pays the owner (CCP §1582(a)(1)(B)). And an owner may challenge an agreement at any time as based on excessive or unjust consideration (CCP §1582(a)(3)). Any agreement must also be in writing, must disclose the nature and value of the property, and must state plainly that the property can be claimed directly from the Controller (CCP §1582(a)(2)(A)-(B)).

California Unclaimed Property Services charges 10 per cent of what is recovered on property reported under §1530, and nothing at all if nothing is recovered. We are a private recovery firm, not the State Controller’s Office, and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by it. See our page on what the law says about finder fees for the full text of these rules.

What about money left through a Burbank estate?

Property that reaches the State through a decedent’s estate and county probate follows a separate path from the everyday unclaimed property described above. The Controller publishes a distinct Estates of Deceased Persons File, refreshed on the first business day of April and October, listing the decedent, the heirs on record, the county, the probate case number and the remaining balance (State Controller, Estates of Deceased Persons File). Our own index currently tracks 37,166 probate estates nationwide, of which 4,438 remain claimable holding roughly $59,038,273.

Who is legally entitled to inherit from a given estate is a question for a probate attorney, not for us. What we can do is search the record, confirm what the file shows, and prepare the paperwork an heir or executor needs to file. See probate estates and the second State file for more detail on how that file works.

What should a Burbank resident do next?

Start by checking your own name, and the names of any close family members, in the property records. If nothing turns up, you owe us nothing and there is nothing further to do. If a record does turn up, especially one of the 544 in Burbank worth $10,000 or more, the next step is gathering identification and proof of address before filing.

You are always free to file a claim on your own directly with the Controller. If you would rather not track down the documentation, correspond with the Controller’s office, and wait out the review yourself, that is the work we do. Use our free property search to check your name, read how to claim, start here for the general process, or go straight to our full-service recovery if you would rather we handle the filing end to end.

Questions People Ask

Figures on this page are from our copy of the State Controller’s published file as it stood on 3 October 2026. The State republishes the file weekly, so current totals will differ. Search is always against the latest copy.