You can charge 5% as a Washington Unclaimed Money Finder.

This can have it’s good points and its bad points.  On the one  hand, 5% doesn’t sound like much.  Just because you live in Washington  doesn’t mean you can only look for unclaimed money in Washington.  You  can look in any state you want as long as you meet the requirements for  that state.

On the other hand, maybe the 5% maximum locators fee discourages  people from looking for unclaimed money in Washington and there are more opportunities to find people.  What you lack in high fee percentage you can make up in volume.
The below information is summarized from the Department of Revenue Washington State Unclaimed Money page.

What is an Unclaimed Money Finder?

Unclaimed Money Finders help reunite owners with their property for a fee. Consumer protection agencies advise that legitimate businesses do not expect payment until the property is returned to the owner. Be suspicious of anyone who tries to charge a fee before you receive your property, or tries to charge a fee other than a percentage of the money to be returned to you. No one may charge a fee greater than five percent for property reported to the state of Washington. This fee limit applies to all services conducted by the locator.
Agent Information

The  following conditions apply to Unclaimed Money Finders:

1. Obtain a Unified Business Identifier (UBI) from the Department of Licensing and  complete any licensing requirements that may apply.
2. When filing a claim provide a notarized  affidavit signed by the unclaimed  property owner authorizing the agent  to act as the owner’s representative. A  statement must be included on  the affidavit that it is unlawful for any person  to receive a fee or  compensation in excess of five percent of the value of  recovered  property and that the owner is aware of such limitations.
3. The agent understands that the  Department will send funds directly to the owner  and that the agent is  responsible for collecting their fee from the owner.

NOTE:  The Federal Freedom of Information Act does not apply to State government.

Q. Does the Department sell the unclaimed property listing?

A. You may search the owner listing on the Internet.

RCW 42.56.070 prohibits the Department from giving or selling  lists of individuals  when it will be used for commercial purposes.

Q. Will the Department discloses the property values?

A. No. RCW 63.29.380 prohibits the Department from disclosing the unclaimed property values to anyone other than the owner or their  representative.

Q. Can heir finders or assetlocators charge for expenses in excess of the five-percent limit?

A. No. Section=63.29.350 prohibits this.

Q. How does the state attempt to contact the owners?

A. The Unclaimed Property Database is available on the Internet.   Annual advertising in newspapers.   Notices are mailed to owners at their last known address.   Publicity on the television, radio, and in newspapers.

The Department also has a full-time employee who acts as an owner locator who utilizes internet databases to locate owners.

They’ve got one employee looking for people! Can you see why  this is such a great business? Thousands of people owed money and one  person looking for them!!!

Q. Will the Department pay the heir finder’s fee?

A. No. The Department will only pay the legal owner of the   Funds. Heir finders are responsible for collecting their fee from the  owners.

Q. Do all states impose a five-percent finder’s fee?

A. No. Most states have a higher limit.

Q. Will the Department research owner’s property for heir finders?

A. The Department will provide you with the information only if you furnish authorization from the legal owner.

Q. What if the owner will not pay the heir finder’s fee?

A. The contract you have with the owner may permit legal actions, but you must initiate it.

Q. Can you furnish addresses for other state’s unclaimed property offices?

A. Yes, you can go to the state unclaimed money page on this site.

Q. Are hard copies of the Unclaimed Property listings available? A. No, copies are not available. We provide our owner listing for search over the Internet. RCW 42.56.070 prohibits the Department from giving or selling lists of individuals   when it will be used for commercial purposes.

Q. How long does it take to get a claim paid?

A. It takes up to 60 days for monetary claims. Stock claims usually take up to 30 days longer.

 

 

 

If you are interested in becoming an Unclaimed Money Finder please click here

You can charge up to10% commission as a Wisconsin unclaimed money finder.

The statutory and agency requirements for finding unclaimed money in Wisconsin is listed below:

1. The locator fee is limited to 10% of the value of the property.
2. Agreements to pay compensation between locators and any owners/heir are not enforceable until 24 months after unclaimed property was reported to the State Treasury.
3. Any agreement to locate, recover or assist in the recovery of property presumed abandoned which is entered into by or on behalf of the owner of the property must contain the following:

(a) An explanation of the services provided by the locator and a clear and prominent statement of the fee to be paid, which may not exceed 10% of actual value of the property recovered
(b) The value of the property to be claimed, computed before and after the deduction for the fee paid to the locator service
(c) A description of the property being claimed
(d) The name and address of the holder of the property
(f) The signature of the apparent owner or agent of the owner

(g) A clear and prominent statement that the owner may file a claim with DOR without the assistance of a locator service

4. Every claim filed with the State Treasurer of Wisconsin must include the following.

(a) Their official claim form containing the notarized signature of the owner
(b) A signed and notarized contract that contains all the information described in item (3) above.
(c) Documentary evidence of ownership

A claim will not be considered filed unless all of the above are completed.

5. Payment will be paid directly to the owner and the locator will be responsible for collecting fees from the owner.

 

Please click here if you would like to print this Wisconsin unclaimed money finder summary from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.

 

Wisconsin sells their unclaimed money list for $25.

There is a way for you to view records without purchasing the list, it just takes a little longer.

You can go to the Wisconsin unclaimed money search and enter a few letters of a last name.

Let’s just say you enter “Bard” (if you enter “Bar” the search engine will tell you that too many names will come up, so add an extra letter).

Now, I’m just using “Bard” as an example. You can use any combination of letters.

Once you do that and hit “search” all of the names that contain the letters “bard” will come up.

On the right you will see amounts showing either:

• less than $10
• between $10-$100
• between $100-$1000
• more than $1000

You can go to any one of the names and click on “Select”, but I like to go to the biggest and see what’s behind “more than $1000”.

When you do that you have a choice to keep looking with “find another property” or “create my claim form now”.

When you click on “create my claim form now”, you are brought to another screen asking for a little bit more information on yourself.

You have the option to click on “I am a locator”. Once you do that, you are then brought to another screen to fill in the address, email, and phone information.

You can put your own email in if you do not have the claimants yet. For the address, you can use the search methods we use using any of the online search sites and enter the correct address.

Then, you are ready to print up a claim form and you can see the exact amount of money being held!

Give it a shot and see how much money you can find.

If you don’t want to go through all of that, you can always order a list, or you can do that for a while and then order a list with the money you’ve made on commission from doing it this way.

There is plenty of money in Wisconsin and plenty of people that don’t know about it.

Check out this video for more:

Here, thousands of notices were sent out to veterans and and only 10% responded. 10%!

People need to be convinced that they have their own money being held for them!

The State might not be too convincing, but we’ll show how to get the owners to respond to you so you both get money!

 

 

If you are interested in becoming a Wisconsin unclaimed money finder please go to the opportunity page to learn more.

You can charge up to 10% as a Texas unclaimed money finder.

However you must be a licensed private investigator to search for unclaimed money in Texas.

Here is an excerpt from the Texas unclaimed money finder site regarding finders:

“Locator, finder, tracer, heirfinder, collector, investigator, researcher, broker, etc., — regardless of the name you choose to identify your business — you must be licensed by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Private Security Bureau if you are going to charge a fee for locating missing owners in Texas.”

You can get more information on becoming licensed at the Texas Department of Public Safety here: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/RSD/PSB/FAQs/licensingFAQs.htm .

Besides being licensed by the Texas Department of Public Safety, you also need to have a current sales tax permit.

Regarding the fee for finder:

“Section 74.507 of the Texas Property Code states that one may not contract for or receive from the claimant, an amount (including all expenses incurred) in excess of 10% of the value of the abandoned property recovered.”

Finders need to request a claim form from the Comptroller’s Office. The claim form will be mailed directly to the claimant and must be signed by the claimant.

Finders also need a Limited Power of Attorney  form to facilitate to processing of the claim.  A separate authorization form must be submitted with each claim.

All documentation requested on the claim instructions must be provided to prove ownership and should be mailed to the address shown on the claim form.

Texas does provide a list for finders.  That list is available for download at http://texastransparency.org/Data_Center/Search_Datasets.php 

There are several lists available based on the year.

For more information on unclaimed money in Texas please go to the Texas Unclaimed Property Code:

 

 

 

Please click here is you would like to learn more about becoming and unclaimed money finder.