You can charge a 10% commission fee as an Indiana unclaimed money finder.

Indiana’s Unclaimed Money Finder Law, Section IC 32-34-1-46, has the following rules for finders:

Fee agreement to locate, deliver, or recover owner’s property

An agreement by an owner that:

(1) has the primary purpose of paying compensation to locate, deliver, recover, or assist in the recovery of property presumed abandoned under this chapter; and

(2) is entered into not earlier than the date the property was presumed abandoned and not later than twenty-four (24) months after the date the property is paid or delivered to the attorney general; is void and unenforceable.

(a) An agreement by an owner that has the primary purpose of locating, delivering, recovering, or assisting in the recovery of property is valid only if:

(1) the fee or compensation agreed upon is not more than ten percent (10%) of the amount collected, unless the amount collected is fifty dollars ($50) or less;

(2) the agreement is in writing;

(3) the agreement is signed by the apparent owner;

(4) the agreement clearly sets forth:            (A) the nature and value of the property; and            (B) the value of the apparent owner’s share after the fee or compensation has been deducted; and

(5) the agreement contains the provision set forth in subsection (d).

(c) This section does not prevent an owner from asserting at any time that an agreement to locate property is otherwise invalid.

(d) This subsection applies to a person who locates, delivers, recovers, or assists in the recovery of property reported under this chapter for a fee or compensation.

An advertisement, a written communication, or an agreement concerning the location, delivery, recovery, or assistance in the recovery of property reported under this chapter must contain a provision stating that, by law, any contract provision requiring the payment of a fee for finding property held by the attorney general for less than twenty-four (24) months is void, and that fees are limited to not more than ten percent (10%) of the amount collected unless the amount collected is fifty dollars ($50) or less.

(e) Subsections (b)(4) and (d) do not apply to attorney’s fees.

(f) If an agreement covered by this section:        (1) applies to mineral proceeds; and        (2) contains a provision to pay compensation that includes a portion of the underlying minerals or any mineral proceeds not then presumed abandoned; the provision is void and unenforceable.

(g) An agreement covered by this section that provides for compensation that is unconscionable is unenforceable except by the owner. An owner who has agreed to pay compensation that is unconscionable, or the attorney general on behalf of the owner, may maintain an action to reduce the compensation to a conscionable amount. The court may award reasonable attorney’s fees to an owner who prevails in the action. As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.19.

From Indiana’s website: What is a “finder”? Locator, finder, tracer, heir-finder, collector, investigator, researcher and broker are all names for individuals who seek out owners of unclaimed money in Indiana and other states.

Functioning as an Indiana unclaimed money finder is legal, but consumers should know that finders generally charge a fee for this service.

According to Indiana law, Indiana unclaimed money finders may charge up to 10 percent of unclaimed money as payment for locating lost assets.

The State of Indiana has over $350 million dollars being held in unclaimed money right now.  That’s $350 million!

In 2009 they returned about $8 million in unclaimed money to their rightful owners.  That’s about 3%.

There is no way they can return that money all by themselves.  They need help.

If you would like more information on becoming an Indiana unclaimed money finder, please click here .

In Delaware, you can charge 10% or $1000, whichever is less.  That means the most you can make on a claim is $1000. 

For that reason, I suggest searching in other states, even if you live in Delaware.

 From the Delaware Code:

 When an agreement to locate property is enforceable: 

An agreement by an owner and a person, a purpose of which is to locate, deliver, recover, or assist in the location, delivery, or recovery of property held by the State Escheator, is enforceable only if the agreement meets all of the following criteria:

(1) It is in a record that clearly sets forth the nature of the property and the services to be provided.

(2) It is signed by or on behalf of the owner, with signature notarized.

(3) It states the amount or value of the property reasonably estimated or expected to be recovered computed, to the extent disclosure of the amount is permitted under § 1189 of this title, both before and after a fee or other compensation to be paid to the other person has been deducted.

(4) It discloses that the property is being held by the Department of Finance.

When an agreement to locate property is unenforceable:

(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, an agreement under § 1186 of this title is void and unenforceable if it is entered into during the period beginning on the date the property was distributable to the owner and ending 24 months after the payment or delivery.

(b) If a provision in an agreement described in subsection (a) of this section applies to mineral proceeds for which compensation is to be paid to the other person based in whole or in part on a portion of the underlying minerals or mineral proceeds not then presumed abandoned, the provision is void and unenforceable regardless of when the agreement is entered into.

(c) For an agreement under subsection (a) of this section, total fees and costs may not exceed $1,000 or 10% of the value of the property recovered, whichever is less.

(d) An owner or the State Escheator may assert that an agreement described in this section is invalid on a ground other than it provides for payment of unconscionable compensation.

(e) This section does not apply to an owner’s agreement with an attorney to contest the State Escheator’s denial of a claim for recovery of the property.

You can view the Delaware Unclaimed Property Code here.

Here is an example of their list:
As you can see, there are no dollar amounts associated with this list.  You have no idea if the amount owed is $50,000 or $50.

This makes it extremely difficult to work with Delaware finding unclaimed money.  We had the same issue in New York, but at least in New York there are millions of names to work with (if you so choose).

In 2009, Delaware only had 85,000 names on their list.

Now, don’t be discouraged if you happen to live in Delaware and you want to find unclaimed money.

Just pick one of the states that are good to search in (look through the state laws to get an idea) and start with that state.

As I’ve mentioned, we were in New York but we didn’t search in New York.  Instead we worked and continue to work in states that are good for finders.

There is no reason you cannot do the same thing if you are in Delaware.

 

Please click here if you would like to learn more about becoming an unclaimed money finder.