Chiang

In this case, the trial court assigned a judgment debtor’s property that had previously escheated to the state under the provisions of the Unclaimed Property Law (Code Civ. Proc., § 1500 et seq.) to a judgment creditor. (Undesignated statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure.) The assignee sought to recover the property from the state by filing a claim under section 1540. John Chiang, California’s State Controller (the Controller), denied the claim on the ground that an assignee judgment creditor is not an “owner” as defined in section 1540 and thus cannot recover unclaimed property pursuant to that section.

As we shall explain, we conclude that an assignee judgment creditor can utilize section 1540 to recover unclaimed property that has escheated to the state prior to the assignment. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

*166 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The material facts in this case are undisputed. Weingarten Realty Investors (Weingarten) is a judgment creditor of Novadyne Computer Systems, Inc. (Novadyne). In August 2010, the Sacramento Superior Court assigned property held by the state’s unclaimed funds division on behalf of Novadyne to…