§ 1321.Immunity of Person Delivering Money Or Property to State Or Holder of Money Or Property

Title 10. Unclaimed Property · Chapter 2. Receipt and Expenditure of Funds · Article 1. Deposit of Unclaimed Property · Enacted 1953 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026

In one sentenceSection 1321 relieves and holds harmless anyone delivering money or property to the Treasurer or Controller under this Title from claims over that property, bars suits against the deliverer or holder for its recovery or for resulting damages, and cuts off further interest to the owner once the property is reported to the Controller.

Full Text of § 1321

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Any person delivering money or other property to the Treasurer or Controller under the provisions of this title shall, upon such delivery, be relieved and held harmless by the State from all or any claim or claims which exist at that time with reference to such money or other property, or which may thereafter be made, or which may come into existence, on account of, or in respect to, such money or other property. No action shall be maintained against any person who is the holder of such money or other property, nor against any officer as agent thereof, for:

(a) The recovery of such money or other property delivered to the Treasurer or Controller pursuant to this title, or for interest thereon subsequent to the date of the report thereof, if any, to the Controller; or

(b) Damages alleged to have resulted from such delivery to the Treasurer or Controller. No owner of money or other property shall be entitled to receive interest thereon or with respect thereto from and after the date on which a report of such money or other property is made to the Controller pursuant to any provision of this title, whether or not he was entitled to such interest prior to such report. As used in this section, "person" and "holder" have the respective meanings set forth in Section 1461 of this code.

End

Plain-English Summary

Handing unclaimed money or property over to the state can feel risky for the person doing the delivering -- what if the true owner later shows up and blames them for giving it away? This section removes that risk. Once delivery to the Treasurer or Controller under this Title is complete, the deliverer is relieved and held harmless by the state from any claim that exists at that time, or that arises later, over that same money or property.

That protection has real teeth: no suit can be maintained against the person who delivered the property, or against any officer acting as its agent, either to recover the money or property itself or to collect damages the delivery supposedly caused. The section also caps the owner's interest. No owner of the money or property is entitled to interest on it running from and after the date the Controller receives a report of it under this Title, whether or not the owner had a right to interest before that report was made.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can someone who delivers unclaimed property to the state later be sued over that property?

No -- this section relieves and holds harmless the person delivering it, and bars suits against them for recovery of the property or for damages tied to the delivery.

Does the true owner keep earning interest on the property after it is delivered to the state?

No -- interest stops running from and after the date the property is reported to the Controller under this Title, regardless of whether the owner was entitled to interest before that.

Does this immunity protect the officer who receives the property on the state's behalf too?

Yes -- the bar on suits extends to any officer acting as agent for the person delivering the money or property.

Amendment History

Added by Stats. 1953, Ch. 279.

Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from the California Legislative Information. Enacted by the California Legislature. Last verified July 29, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: immunity delivering unclaimed property to stateinterest cutoff unclaimed property report