(a) Any business association that sells in this state its travelers checks, money orders, or other similar written instruments (other than third-party bank checks) on which such business association is directly liable, or that provides such travelers checks, money orders, or similar written instruments to others for sale in this state, shall maintain a record indicating those travelers checks, money orders, or similar written instruments that are purchased from it in this state.
§ 1581.Records Required By Business Selling Travelers Checks, Money Orders Or Similar Instruments In State
Title 10. Unclaimed Property · Chapter 7. Unclaimed Property Law · Article 7. Miscellaneous · Last amended 1975 · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1581 requires businesses that sell travelers checks, money orders, or similar instruments in California to keep records of who bought them here, lets the Controller set how long those records must be kept, and fines willful noncompliance $500 per day.
Full Text of § 1581
(b) The record required by this section may be destroyed after it has been retained for such reasonable time as the State Controller shall designate by regulation.
(c) Any business association that willfully fails to comply with this section is liable to the state for a civil penalty of five hundred dollars ($500) for each day of such failure to comply, which penalty may be recovered in an action brought by the State Controller.
Plain-English Summary
Travelers checks and money orders create a special tracking problem: they're often bought under a business's brand but issued through a different company entirely, and they can sit outstanding for years before anyone tries to cash them. This section makes sure records of who bought them in California exist somewhere. A business that sells its own travelers checks, money orders, or similar written instruments here, or supplies them to others to sell here, must keep a record of which of those instruments were purchased in the state.
The Controller decides by regulation how long that record has to be kept before it can be destroyed, balancing the state's need for the information against the burden of indefinite retention. A business that willfully ignores this recordkeeping duty owes the state a civil penalty of $500 for every day the failure continues, recoverable in an action the Controller brings.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kinds of instruments does this recordkeeping requirement cover?
Travelers checks, money orders, or other similar written instruments, other than third-party bank checks, on which the business is directly liable or that it provides to others for sale in California.
How long must a business keep these records?
For whatever reasonable time the State Controller designates by regulation.
What happens if a business willfully fails to keep the required records?
It's liable to the state for a civil penalty of $500 for each day of the failure, recoverable in an action the State Controller brings.
Amendment History
Amended by Stats. 1975, Ch. 25.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: travelers checks money orders recordkeeping californiaunclaimed property recordkeeping penalty