How to search unclaimed property for a business name
Updated
Searching for a person is hard enough; searching for a company is harder, because holders record names and addresses in many ways. This method finds far more than a single search.
- List every name. Write down the legal name, former legal names, DBAs, brand names, and the names of companies you merged with or bought.
- Make the variants. For each name, try it with and without Inc, Incorporated, LLC, Corp, Co and punctuation; try common abbreviations and the first two distinctive words only.
- List every address. Note each address the business used, including suites, PO boxes, a founder's home address used early on, and remittance or lockbox addresses.
- Search and filter by city. Search each variant and filter by the cities you have used. Records list the owner address the holder had, so an old city is a strong match signal.
- Check the holder. For each hit, ask whether you did business with that holder. A bank, customer, insurer or transfer agent you recognise is a good sign.
- Note record details. Keep the property ID, holder, property type, amount and the number of owners for each record. You will need them for the claim.
Why it is worth the effort
In our analysis of the Controller's file, 8,636 of the 20,456 business-type owners owed $10,000 or more have two or more records. Those are only the records already grouped under the same name and ZIP code; records under other spellings or addresses add to them.
Common misses
- "The" at the start of the name, or "&" versus "and".
- A long name cut off by the holder's system.
- A record under a former officer's name "for" the company.
- Records at a remittance address you never thought of as yours.
Let us search for you
Send us your business's names and addresses and we will run the full search and send you what we find. Checking costs nothing.