PayPal Sent $98 Million to California’s Unclaimed Fund

• PayPal reported 231,142 unclaimed property records to California, totaling $98,071,057.
• The largest category, Misc Intangible Property, accounts for 206,799 records and $91,879,212.
• 484 of these records are worth $10,000 or more; the average record is $424.
• There is no deadline to claim this money; the State holds it until the owner or an heir comes forward.
• Our fee is 10 per cent of what is recovered, owed only after the State pays, as capped by CCP §1582.

Why did PayPal turn money over to California?

California law requires any business holding money or property owed to a customer, employee, or supplier that goes unclaimed to report it to the State Controller and eventually remit it. Non-insurance businesses file their notice report before 1 November each year and remit the funds between 1 and 15 June of the following year. PayPal, like banks, retailers, and payroll processors across the state, files under this same schedule. This is routine compliance, not a sign that anything went wrong with an account.

Over time, PayPal’s filings have produced 231,142 individual property records now held by the State, worth a combined $98,071,057. That money no longer sits with PayPal. It sits with the Controller, under the name of the customer, employee, or vendor who was owed it, waiting to be claimed.

What kinds of PayPal property ended up with the State?

The records fall into a handful of categories, each reflecting a different kind of relationship with PayPal:

• Misc Intangible Prop — 206,799 records, $91,879,212. The largest category by far, typically covering account balances and similar intangible holdings.
• Commissions — 21,329 records, $5,205,836. Payments described as commissions, often owed to business partners or program participants.
• Other — 2,465 records, $551,967.
• Vendor Checks — 230 records, $187,871.
• Payments For Goods & Services — 188 records, $179,744.
• Wages, Payroll, Salaries — 38 records, $44,993.

The State’s own property type codes are broad categories, not a narrative of what happened to any one account. If your name is on one of these records, the category tells you roughly what kind of relationship produced it, not the full story.

How much is a typical PayPal record worth?

The average record in this batch is worth $424. Most are modest. But 484 records are worth $10,000 or more, and a handful of those will be larger still. Value varies enormously across 231,142 separate entries, so the only way to know what a given record is worth is to look it up.

One practical note: claims of $1,000 or more in cash must be notarized before the Controller will pay them, and all securities and safe deposit box claims require notarization regardless of value. A California notary may charge at most $15 per signature for this. If your record falls above that threshold, budget for the notary step as part of claiming it.

How do I check if any of this money is mine?

We index 14,639,722 State Controller property records, including PayPal’s holder filings alongside those of every other company and agency that has reported to California. You can search our index by name to see whether a PayPal record, or any other unclaimed property, appears under your name or a former name. It is worth checking variations: maiden names, old addresses, a business name if you dealt with PayPal as a seller or vendor, and the name of a deceased relative if you may be an heir.

If you find a match, the next step is working out what the State requires to pay it: identity documents, proof of address history, and in some cases notarization. Our page on how-to-claim/documents walks through what the Controller typically asks for.

What does it cost to recover PayPal money through your firm, and is there a deadline?

There is no deadline. California holds unclaimed property indefinitely until the owner or their heir claims it; the only exception is an estate that has been permanently escheated to the State, which does not apply to ordinary account balances like these. A PayPal record sitting with the Controller today will still be there next year.

Our fee is 10 per cent of what is recovered, and we are owed nothing if nothing is recovered. This matches the statutory cap under CCP §1582 for property reported under §1530, which is exactly how PayPal’s filings arrived at the State. That cap does not apply to estates that reach the State through county probate, which are a different category of case governed by the Probate Code, but it does apply here. We also cannot charge you anything before the Controller approves and pays your claim; an agreement that tried to do so would not be valid. See pricing for the full structure, or go straight to how-to-claim to start.

Questions People Ask

Figures on this page are from our copy of the State Controller’s published file as it stood on 2 October 2026. The State republishes the file weekly, so current totals will differ. Search is always against the latest copy.