Refunds Due: California’s Biggest Unclaimed Property Category

• Refunds Due (NAUPA code MS11) holds 814,856 records worth $320,896,016 combined.
• The average record is worth $394, but 1,424 records are worth $10,000 or more.
• AT&T Services Inc., Bank of America – North Carolina and Western Union are among the largest reporters.
• A recovery fee for this category cannot exceed 10 per cent of what is recovered, since it is reported under Code of Civil Procedure §1530.
• There is no deadline to claim a Refunds Due record; the State holds it until the owner or an heir comes forward.

What is the "Refunds Due" category of unclaimed property?

Refunds Due is one of the categories the California State Controller uses to sort unclaimed property by how it arose. It carries the national code MS11 and covers money a business owed to a customer as a refund but never managed to deliver, whether because the customer moved, closed an account, or simply never cashed a check. Once a business cannot locate the owner for a set period, state law requires it to report the money to the Controller rather than keep it.

In our index, Refunds Due contains 814,856 separate records with a combined value of $320,896,016. That makes it one of the largest categories by volume of any type we track, though the amounts involved are typically modest: the average record is worth $394.

How does an ordinary refund end up with the State Controller?

A refund becomes unclaimed property through a routine, largely invisible process. A company issues a credit or a check, the attempt to pay the customer fails, and the account sits dormant. Once the dormancy period set by law passes, the business is required to report the property to the Controller under Code of Civil Procedure §1530 and eventually remit the funds. Most businesses file their annual notice report before 1 November and remit funds the following June, though life insurers work to a different calendar.

Because the money passes through a formal state filing, the record ends up searchable by name, and eventually payable to the person it was always owed to.

Which companies report the most refunds due?

Refunds Due is dominated by large consumer-facing companies with high customer turnover. In our data, the biggest reporters are:

• AT&T Services Inc. — 59,370 records, $16,997,861
• Bank of America – North Carolina — 51,673 records, $15,125,067
• Western Union Financial Svcs Inc. — 40,278 records, $12,418,146
• Comcast Cable Comm Mgmt LLC — 29,920 records, $5,118,794
• ATT Services Inc. (reported separately) — 25,753 records, $6,521,425
• Clubcorp Holdings Inc. — 20,967 records, $24,403,412

The pattern is not surprising. Utilities, telecoms and financial services firms issue enormous numbers of small refunds every year, from deposit returns to overpayment credits, and a portion of those never reach the customer on the first attempt.

How much is a typical refunds-due record worth?

Most Refunds Due records are small. The average across all 814,856 records is $394, which reflects the nature of the category: overpayments, deposit refunds, and billing credits rather than large settlements. But the category is not uniformly small. 1,424 records are worth $10,000 or more, which suggests larger commercial refunds, insurance-related credits, or accumulated balances sitting inside the same category.

If a record of yours is small, it may still be worth claiming, since there is no minimum value below which a claim cannot be filed and no deadline by which it must be claimed.

What does claiming a Refunds Due record actually involve?

The Controller requires proof of identity and proof of the connection between the claimant and the name on the record, such as a former address or account number. Claims of $1,000 or more in cash must be notarized; smaller refunds usually do not require it. A California notary may charge at most $15 for a jurat under Government Code §8211, so notarization, where it is needed, is a fixed and modest cost.

If the person the refund was owed to has since died, the claim instead runs through the heir or executor process, which is different from claiming in your own name. See our pages on what documents the State needs and on claiming as an heir or executor for the specifics.

Does the 10 per cent fee cap apply to Refunds Due claims?

Yes. Refunds Due records are reported to the Controller under Code of Civil Procedure §1530, which means any fee we charge to locate, deliver or recover them is capped at 10 per cent of what is recovered, under CCP §1582(a)(2)(C). That cap is specific to property reported this way; it does not extend to estates that reach the State through county probate, which follow a different part of the Probate Code. We charge nothing unless the Controller pays the claim, and we cannot collect any fee before that payment happens.

An agreement covering a Refunds Due claim must be in writing, must disclose the nature and value of the property and where the Controller holds it, and must be signed only after that disclosure is given. An owner can challenge an agreement at any time as based on excessive or unjust consideration. None of that changes if the amount owed is $50 or $50,000; the cap and the disclosure rules apply the same way.

What should you do next?

If you think a former biller, bank or telecom owes you a refund it never managed to deliver, the first step is to check whether a record exists under your name or a former address. Our free property search covers 14,800,558 State Controller records, including the Refunds Due category. If you find a match and want help preparing the documentation, filing the claim, and handling any notarization requirement, our full-service recovery handles it for a fee capped at 10 per cent of what is recovered, and only if the claim is paid. You can also read more about what the law says about finder fees before deciding.

Questions People Ask

Figures on this page are from our copy of the State Controller’s published file as it stood on 10 September 2026. The State republishes the file weekly, so current totals will differ. Search is always against the latest copy.