Sale or Disposal of Unclaimed Property

Part 3, Title 10, Chapter 4, Article 3 deals with the sale or disposal of property within the management of unclaimed property in California.

Section 1370 authorizes the Controller to sell or lease personal property at any time, and in any manner, and may execute those leases on behalf and in the name of the State of California.

Section 1371 allows the Controller to sell, cash, redeem, exchange, or otherwise dispose of any securities and all other classes of personal property, if, in his or her opinion, that action on his or her part is necessary or will tend to safeguard and conserve the interests of all parties, including the state, having any vested or expectant interest in the property.

Section 1372 permits the Controller to sign, endorse, or otherwise authenticate, in the name and on behalf of the State, subscribing his name as Controller, any securities, bills of sale, documents, or other instruments required, under customary business practice, for the consummation of the transactions authorized by this chapter.

Section 1373 allows the Controller to lease or sell any real property for cash at public auction to the highest bidder. Notice must be published in a newspaper published in the county in which the real property is situated.

Section 1374 permits the Controller to reject any bid made at sales or public auctions held under the provisions of this chapter.

Section 1375 states that any real property may be sold or leased by the Controller at private sale without published notice.

Section 1376 requires the Controller to execute, in the name and on behalf of the State of California, a deed covering the real property, and a bill of sale covering the personal property, sold.

Section 1377 prohibits the Controller from entering into any transaction which creates or imposes upon the owners, heirs, devisees, legatees, or other claimants of the property involved, any obligation under an executory contract, the performance of which is not already an obligation.

Section 1378 prohibits any suit from being maintained by any person against the State or any officer for or on account of any transaction entered into by the Controller pursuant to this chapter.

Section 1379 authorizes the Controller to destroy or otherwise dispose of any personal property other than cash deposited in the State Treasury under this title, if that property is determined by him or her to be valueless or of such little value that the costs of conducting a sale would probably exceed the amount that would be realized from the sale, and neither the Treasurer nor Controller is held to respond in damages at the suit of any person claiming loss by reason of that destruction or disposition.

Section 1380 specifies that all sales, exchanges, or other transactions entered into by the Controller pursuant to this chapter are exempt from certain provisions of the Government Code.

Section 1381 requires all sales, leases or other transactions entered into by the Controller pursuant to this chapter to be conclusive against everyone, except a purchaser or encumbrancer who in good faith and for a valuable consideration acquires a title or interest by an instrument in writing that is first duly recorded.

Section 1382 provides that any provision of this article which authorizes the Controller to sell real property applies to any real property distributed or escheated to, or the title to which has vested in, the State of California by court order or decree of distribution, in specified circumstances.