Unclaimed Property Held for People in Santa Clara

• Santa Clara has 55,829 unclaimed property records on file, worth $56,648,247 combined.
• 764 of those records are worth $10,000 or more, with an average value of $1,015 across all records.
• Metlife Inc., Wells Fargo Bank NA, and Bank of America NA are among the largest reporters of Santa Clara property.
• California law caps a recovery firm's fee at 10 per cent of property reported under §1530, though probate estates are not subject to that cap.
• There is no deadline to claim property from the State, though permanently escheated estates cannot be recovered.

How much unclaimed property is held for Santa Clara?

The California State Controller’s records show 55,829 individual unclaimed property entries connected to Santa Clara, with a combined value of $56,648,247. Most records are modest: the average is $1,015. But 764 of them are worth $10,000 or more, which is where the bulk of the money sits. These figures come from the same statewide files the Controller publishes and that our index draws from, refreshed against 14,613,528 property records nationwide.

A record can be anything from a forgotten paycheck to an old insurance refund. It does not mean a person forgot they had money; often the holder — a bank, employer, or insurer — lost touch with a customer who moved, or a name was misspelled on a form years ago. That is why searching by name and by variations of a name matters.

Who is holding Santa Clara property, and what kind is it?

A handful of large companies account for a significant share of what is on file. Metlife Inc. reported 763 records worth $729,884. Wells Fargo Bank NA reported 713 records worth $718,526 under one filing and a further 689 records worth $839,526 under a separate APECS filing. Bank of America NA reported 709 records worth $770,291, Citibank N A reported 626 records worth $523,802, and Comcast Cable Comm Mgmt LLC reported 532 records worth $80,492.

The type of property tells its own story. The largest categories by dollar value are Accounts Payable (2,301 records, $2,324,944), Credit Balances on Accounts Receivable (2,749 records, $2,044,436), and Misc Outstanding Checks (2,879 records, $1,860,175). Refunds Due (4,356 records, $1,721,178), Premium Refunds (3,219 records, $1,319,840), and unpaid Wages, Payroll and Salaries (2,075 records, $1,095,399) round out the largest groups. Together these six categories cover the majority of what is on file for the area.

How do I find out if any of it is mine?

The only way to know is to search by name, and by any name you have used, including a maiden name or a former business name. Records this old are often filed under an old address or a slightly misspelled surname, which is why a single search under your current legal name sometimes misses money that is genuinely yours.

If the property in question belonged to someone who has died, it may instead sit in the Estates of Deceased Persons File, a separate list the Controller refreshes each April and October, showing the decedent, the recorded heirs, the county, and the probate case number. Our probate estates index tracks 37,166 such estates, of which 4,438 are still claimable, holding roughly $59,038,273 combined. Whether a specific heir is entitled to a specific estate is a legal question, and one we do not answer ourselves; that determination belongs to the probate court and, where there is doubt, an attorney.

You can run a free property search against our index at any time. There is no deadline for claiming money the Controller holds, though an estate that has been permanently escheated to the State has already passed out of reach and cannot be recovered by anyone.

What does it cost to recover Santa Clara property?

California law limits what a recovery firm — what the Controller’s own materials call an “investigator” — may charge to locate, deliver or recover property reported under Code of Civil Procedure §1530. That cap is 10 per cent of the amount recovered (CCP §1582(a)(2)(C)). It does not reach every dollar the State holds, however: estates that arrive through county probate come in under the Probate Code instead, and the Controller states there is no fee restriction on investigators working those estate claims. That distinction matters if the property you are chasing is an inheritance rather than a bank refund or old paycheck.

Separately, no agreement can require you to pay before the Controller approves the claim and pays the money. California Unclaimed Property Services works on that basis: our standard fee is 10 per cent of what is recovered, charged only after the State has paid, and nothing is owed if nothing is recovered. Any agreement we send you discloses the nature and value of the property, confirms the Controller currently holds it, and gives the address where you could claim it directly, as the law requires. You may challenge an agreement at any time if you believe the fee is excessive or unjust.

Do claims need to be notarized?

Cash claims of $1,000 or more must be notarized, and all securities claims and safe deposit box claims require notarization regardless of the amount. A California notary may charge at most $15 per signature for an acknowledgment or jurat. If a safe deposit box was involved, note that the Controller does not hold the original contents — boxes remitted to the State are inventoried and sold at auction, so what is on file is the sale proceeds, not the physical items.

What should I do next?

Start with a search of your own name and any past names against our index. If something turns up, review our guide to how to claim, including the separate paths for claiming in your own name and claiming as an heir or executor. If you would rather have someone else run the search, assemble the paperwork, and file on your behalf, our full-service recovery handles that for a fee owed only once the Controller has paid.

Questions People Ask

Figures on this page are from our copy of the State Controller’s published file as it stood on 29 September 2026. The State republishes the file weekly, so current totals will differ. Search is always against the latest copy.