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

The Treasury Department Division of Unclaimed Property does not regulate who can be an unclaimed money finder in Tennessee.

Unfortunately, the Treasury Department doesn’t make decisions on unclaimed money finders.

That is handled by the  State of Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance administers the Tennessee Private Investigation and Polygraph Commission.

The Tennessee Private Investigation and Polygraph Commission has ruled that an unclaimed money finder must be a licensed private investigator.

If you are not a licensed private investigator you will need to contact their office at (615) 741-2241 or https://www.tn.gov/commerce/contact-us.html

However, just because you live in Tennessee, it doesn’t mean you can’t become an unclaimed money finder for other states.

It’s a great business that not too many people are aware of. There are millions of people owed billions of dollars in just about every state in the United States.

Take a look at the unclaimed money state laws page and then click on any of the states listed there. You will see an excellent opportunity to make money with this unique business.

If you are interested in becoming a Tennessee unclaimed money finder, or if you are already one, then the information below is for you.

Unclaimed Money Finders Fees and Contracts

Once you have located someone whose name is listed as having unclaimed property, a contract should be executed between yourself and that person.

The contract must state that the Tennessee unclaimed money finder will charge no more than 10% of the value of property recovered or $50, whichever is greater.  All contracts must be approved by the Unclaimed Property Division as stated in TCA 66-29-122.

Submitting a Claim

Once  you locate the owner you are not to imply or infer that you are an employee of  the Division of Unclaimed Property or contracted to work with the Division of  Unclaimed Property.

Before you submit  the claim to the Division of Unclaimed Property there are several items that are required before they will pay a claim.

Listed below are the items we will need with  every claim:

1. Documentation that you are a  licensed private investigator with Tennessee Private Investigation and Polygraph  Commission.
2. A contract signed by both the claimant and the  finder.  It must list the  owner/claimant’s phone number and address as well as the finders phone number  and address.
3. The contract must list the  amount the  finder is charging the owner with the dollar amount as well as the  percentage.
4. A claim form must be signed and notarized by the  owner/claimant.  The address on the claim  form is where we will mail the check.   All payments will be made directly to the owner/claimant and it is the  Tennessee unclaimed money finders responsibility to collect their fee from the owner/claimant.
5. The owner/claimant must provide some documentation  of their address on the claim form where the check will be sent. (Examples  include a copy of a bill or drivers license)The owner/claimant must provide a copy of  identification.  (Examples include a copy  of driver’s license or voter’s registration card)
6. The owner/claimant must provide documentation of  their social security number.  (Examples  include a copy of their social security card or a payroll stub with their  social security number on it)
7. Documentation the funds being held belong to  the claimant.

If you would like to learn more about becoming an Tennessee Unclaimed Money Finder please click here

Being an Illinois unclaimed money finder is easier when you are not searching for money being held by the State of Illinois.

You must be a Private Detective to collect a contingent fee on behalf of an apparent owner.

They do have two main laws that you must follow:

1. The money being held has to have been in their possession for at least 24 months; and
2. The commission fee you charge cannot exceed 10%.

They don’t make it easy for you to obtain information, however.

The following was taken from information on the Illinois unclaimed money website before they changed it in the middle of 2012. Now it is difficult to get this information without calling them:

Q. Do finder firms use the state’s database to track people?

A. We take steps to ensure that this does not happen.

Unlike some states, we have a protective provision within our Act that  prohibits us from disclosing information from reports or obtained during the course of an examination unless we have the owners’ consent.

This prevents finder firms from obtaining a listing of our unclaimed property owners via a Freedom of Information Act Request.
Some states sell the information via hard-copy or electronic format to finder firms.

We are required to publish owner names on a semi-annual basis, and some  finders may target constituents they see in the newspaper.
People should be aware though that property has to be in our custody for at  least 24 months before a finder could receive a fee, and that fee is  limited to 10%.

Additionally, some finders may attempt to target people viewed on our website’s searchable database.
We limit the number of property owner entries that an individual searcher can view to attempt to prevent abuse of this data.

So, here you can see that the state knows there are people helping other  people get money that they wouldn’t otherwise have known about, and they are making things difficult for them.

My suggestion if you live in Illinois and you would like to search for unclaimed money as a business is to search in other states that are more finder friendly. 

Please click here if you are interested in learning more about becoming an unclaimed money finder.

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

You must be a private investigator to locate people owed unclaimed money in Minnesota.

Minnesota is an excellent example of why you should always contact a state first before you start searching in it to locate unclaimed money.

Many states laws, codes, acts, etc., will tell you the rules you have to follow to search for unclaimed money for a fee, but they won’t tell you that you have to be a private investigator.

That you have to get from the State.  It’s better to find out ahead of time then to actually by a list (yes some states will sell you a list without asking if you are a PI), go through the process of finding someone, getting an agreement signed, submitting it, and then having them tell you that you need to be a private investigator.

Regarding the rules in Minnesota, if you are a private investigator, there are a only a couple that you need to follow.

They are:

1. You cannot contact someone to locate money for them for a fee if the money has not been held for at least twenty-four months, and

2. You cannot charge more than 10% commission.

Click on the link to view the official Minnesota unclaimed money finder statute.

If you contact Minnesota they will send you information that shows that you need to be a private investigator to locate unclaimed money.

You can access that information here.

Along with that information, they also tell you that you can obtain the unclaimed money list from the Minnesota Bookstore.

The cd with the list on it costs $500 but it only gives amounts over $1000 which is great.

I don’t like to look for anything less than $1000 when I’m searching for money.

You can make that $500 back with one $5000 claim.

Speaking of private investigators in Minnesota, I know one that does quite well searching for unclaimed money.

She only became an investigator to search for money.  She started off as an apprentice under another PI, and after three years became licensed herself.

The PI she worked under basically let her use his letterhead and information to submit search information and he shared in the commissions.  It worked out for both of them.

Please click on the link to learn more about becoming a private investigator in Minnesota.

What if you do not want to become a private investigator?

Well, you can still search for unclaimed money, you just need to pick a different state to search in.

As I mention many times throughout the site, we are in New York but rarely search in New York because the list does not show the dollar amounts.

So, we look in other states. You can do the same.

Please click on the link if you are interested in becoming an unclaimed money finder.