State Controller John Chiang has pledged to use a new law to aggressively track down the owners of thousands of dollars' worth of unclaimed property seized by the state.

A federal judge in June called the state's notification process unconstitutional and ordered the controller's office to stop taking possession of any assets or property thought to be abandoned.

A law approved this week as part of the state budget plan lifts some of the restrictions Chiang said have prevented his office from reaching out to about 650,000 property owners. Their assets are seized by the state as lost or abandoned each year.

"The reforms in this budget will lift those ridiculous restrictions and allow us to notify individuals before their stocks, bonds, cash and family heirlooms are sent to the state, and start tracking down and notifying those whose property has already been sent to the state," Chiang said during a news conference this week.