California
Unclaimed property is administered by the California State Controller's Officethrough the California Unclaimed Property program.
Search California unclaimed property ↗Download XLSX ↗Download ZIP ↗
Official search & downloadable data
Search tool
XLSX
Estates of deceased persons file (Excel)
California State Controller downloadable estate/heir-finder file.
ZIP
Unclaimed property records $500 and above (ZIP)
California ClaimIt downloadable property records for claims from $500 to beyond.
Finder & Recovery Rules
Licensing / Registration
No PI license required. Investigators file the SCO Standard Investigator Agreement; heir finders for county probate estates operate under separate rules.
Fee Cap
10% cap on state-held property, all services included (Code Civ. Proc. §1582). County probated estates are exempt from the cap.
Waiting Period
No agreement is valid between the holder's report filing and until the property has been in SCO possession 12 months or notice has been published (CCP §1582; SCO investigator rules).
Governing Statute
Code Civ. Proc. §§1500–1582; finder agreements §1582 (verified June 2026).
Summaries marked “verify” have not been independently confirmed against the current statute text. Nothing here is legal advice — confirm rules with the state administrator or counsel before contacting claimants.
Where county money sits in California
Tax-sale excess proceeds are claimed through the county Treasurer-Tax Collector under Rev. & Tax. Code §4675 (parties of interest generally have one year to claim; assignment agreements have strict disclosure rules).
County Directory — California
58 counties · 43 with verified sources so far. Rows without a verified link show where the records are typically held —know the direct URL? Submit it and we'll credit you.
| County | Source links |
|---|---|
| Alameda CountyAlameda County — county website only; no dedicated surplus/unclaimed funds page verified yet. | not yet verified |
| Alpine CountyAlpine County — Treasurer-Tax Collector page; no specific excess-proceeds subpage confirmed yet. | not yet verified |
| Amador CountyAmador County — Treasurer-Tax Collector page (site blocks automated checks); excess proceeds claim form referenced but not directly confirmable. | not yet verified |
| Butte Countyverified 2026-07-21Butte County — Treasurer-Tax Collector property tax auctions page (excess proceeds). | |
| Calaveras Countyverified 2026-07-21Calaveras County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 via probe (page mentions: unclaimed funds). | |
| Colusa Countyverified 2026-07-21Colusa County — Instructions for Filing Claim for Excess Proceeds (PDF). | |
| Contra Costa Countyverified 2026-07-21Contra Costa County — Excess Proceeds Policy and Forms page. | |
| Del Norte Countyverified 2026-07-21Del Norte County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 via probe (page mentions: excess proceeds). | |
| El Dorado Countyverified 2026-07-21El Dorado County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 via probe (page mentions: excess proceeds). | |
| Fresno Countyverified 2026-07-21Fresno County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 via probe (page mentions: unclaimed property). | |
| Glenn CountyGlenn County — Treasurer-Tax Collector page (site blocks automated checks); excess proceeds process confirmed to exist but page not directly verifiable. | not yet verified |
| Humboldt Countyverified 2026-07-21Humboldt County — Public Auction Information page (excess proceeds). | |
| Imperial Countyverified 2026-07-21Imperial County — Tax Collector page (excess proceeds). | |
| Inyo Countyverified 2026-07-21Inyo County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 (page mentions: unclaimed funds). | |
| Kern Countyverified 2026-07-21Kern County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 via probe (page mentions: unclaimed money). | |
| Kings CountyKings County — county site blocks automated checks; excess proceeds claim process confirmed via search but page not directly verifiable. | not yet verified |
| Lake Countyverified 2026-07-21Lake County — Tax Collector page (excess proceeds). | |
| Lassen Countyverified 2026-07-21Lassen County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 via probe (page mentions: excess proceeds). | |
| Los Angeles Countyverified 2026-07-21Los Angeles County Treasurer & Tax Collector — deep-linked to the 'Sold Properties and Excess Proceeds Lists' section (was previously linked to the site homepage only). Structured excess-proceeds records (parcel, purchase price, excess proceeds) parsed from the county's 2025A/2025B/2025C PDF lists into src/data/excess-proceeds/ca/06037.json (461 records, last updated 2026-07-21); browsable at /counties/ca/06037/ on the site. | |
| Madera Countyverified 2026-07-21Madera County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 (page mentions: excess proceeds). | |
| Marin Countyverified 2026-07-21Marin County — Tax Defaulted Land Sales general information (excess proceeds). | |
| Mariposa Countyverified 2026-07-21Mariposa County — Notice of Right to Claim Excess Proceeds publication. | |
| Mendocino CountyMendocino County — Tax Collector portal (site blocks direct page checks); excess proceeds process confirmed to exist via search. | not yet verified |
| Merced Countyverified 2026-07-21Merced County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 (page mentions: excess proceeds). | |
| Modoc CountyModoc County — county homepage; excess proceeds notices published per-sale, no stable subpage found yet. | not yet verified |
| Mono Countyverified 2026-07-21Mono County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 (page mentions: excess proceeds). | |
| Monterey Countyverified 2026-07-21Monterey County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 via probe (page mentions: unclaimed property). | |
| Napa Countyverified 2026-07-21Napa County — Auctions and Public Sales page (excess proceeds). | |
| Nevada Countyverified 2026-07-21Nevada County — Auction (Property Tax Sale) page (excess proceeds). | |
| Orange Countyverified 2026-07-21Orange County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 via probe (page mentions: unclaimed funds). | |
| Placer CountyPlacer County — Tax Land Sale page; excess proceeds process confirmed via FAQ but no dedicated subpage found yet. | not yet verified |
| Plumas CountyPlumas County — Treasurer-Tax Collector page; no dedicated excess-proceeds subpage found yet. | not yet verified |
| Riverside Countyverified 2026-06-10Riverside County — site blocks automated checks (HTTP 403); needs manual review. | |
| Sacramento Countyverified 2026-07-21Sacramento County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 (page mentions: unclaimed funds; unclaimed money). | |
| San Benito Countyverified 2026-07-21San Benito County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 (page mentions: excess proceeds; unclaimed funds; unclaimed property). | |
| San Bernardino CountySan Bernardino County — county website only; no dedicated surplus/unclaimed funds page verified yet. | not yet verified |
| San Diego CountySan Diego County — county website only; no dedicated surplus/unclaimed funds page verified yet. | not yet verified |
| San Francisco Countyverified 2026-07-21San Francisco — Treasurer & Tax Collector auction page (excess proceeds). | |
| San Joaquin Countyverified 2026-07-21San Joaquin County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 (page mentions: excess proceeds; unclaimed funds; unclaimed property). | |
| San Luis Obispo Countyverified 2026-07-21San Luis Obispo County — Notice of Right to Claim Excess Proceeds page. | |
| San Mateo Countyverified 2026-07-21San Mateo County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 (page mentions: excess proceeds). | |
| Santa Barbara CountySanta Barbara County — Tax Collector page; no dedicated excess-proceeds subpage found yet. | not yet verified |
| Santa Clara Countyverified 2026-07-20Santa Clara County — site blocks automated checks (HTTP 403); needs manual review. | |
| Santa Cruz Countyverified 2026-07-21Santa Cruz County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 via probe (page mentions: unclaimed money). | |
| Shasta Countyverified 2026-07-21Shasta County — dedicated Excess Proceeds page. | |
| Sierra CountySierra County — Taxes page; no dedicated excess-proceeds subpage found yet. | not yet verified |
| Siskiyou Countyverified 2026-07-21Siskiyou County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 (page mentions: surplus term in filename/url). | |
| Solano Countyverified 2026-07-21Solano County — dedicated Excess Proceeds page. | |
| Sonoma Countyverified 2026-07-21Sonoma County — Tax-Defaulted Property Auctions page (excess proceeds). | |
| Stanislaus Countyverified 2026-07-21Stanislaus County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 (page mentions: excess proceeds; unclaimed property). | |
| Sutter CountySutter County — Treasurer-Tax Collector page (site blocks automated checks); excess proceeds archive confirmed to exist via search. | not yet verified |
| Tehama Countyverified 2026-07-21Tehama County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 (page mentions: surplus term in filename/url). | |
| Trinity Countyverified 2026-07-21Trinity County — Treasurer-Tax Collector page (excess proceeds). | |
| Tulare Countyverified 2026-07-20Tulare County — site blocks automated checks (HTTP 403); needs manual review. | |
| Tuolumne Countyverified 2026-07-21Tuolumne County — Tax Sales page (excess proceeds). | |
| Ventura Countyverified 2026-07-21Ventura County — taxSurplus source verified 2026-07-21 via probe (page mentions: unclaimed property). | |
| Yolo CountyYolo County — Revenues/Taxes page (site blocks automated checks); no dedicated excess-proceeds subpage confirmed yet. | not yet verified |
| Yuba Countyverified 2026-07-21Yuba County — Excess Proceeds Policy & Procedures (PDF). |