Unclaimed money search service
Governments are holding tens of billions in unclaimed property: forgotten deposits, uncashed checks, dormant accounts, old insurance payouts. In the US alone the states hold over $70 billion, and about one in seven people has something waiting. Most never look.
This business searches on behalf of people who’d never do it themselves, for a flat fee, and hands them the claim instructions. You never touch their money.
The job
A customer gives you their name, past addresses, and past business names. You run a structured search across the relevant databases, compile what surfaces, and deliver a short report: what was found, where, and exactly how to claim it (claims are filed by the owner, free, on the official state or national site).
The honest version of this business tells customers two things up front: they could search for free themselves, and your fee buys thoroughness (name variants, old addresses, multiple states, deceased relatives’ estates) plus clear instructions.
Who it suits
Detail-oriented people who enjoy search puzzles. It also stacks well with estate-adjacent work: executors and genealogy researchers hit unclaimed property constantly.
Startup cost and tools
| What | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Engine calls per client | ~$0.50–$1.50 | One to three searches depending on name variants and states |
| Payment + intake page | $0–$45/mo | Standard stack |
Engine prices are the live public catalog prices, the same sheet agents pay. No subscription is required to use them.
The licensing question
This is the one recovery blueprint with real state-by-state rules: many US states regulate "finders" or "locators" of unclaimed property, and the rules typically target contingency arrangements (percentage fees), with registration requirements and fee caps. This blueprint charges a flat search fee regardless of outcome, never takes a percentage, and never takes custody of funds or files claims on the owner’s behalf, which keeps you outside most finder statutes. Still, read your state’s unclaimed-property law before launch, and disclose in writing that owners can always search and claim for free.
How the engine does the heavy lifting
The engine runs the multi-database search and returns what it found with claim instructions per hit.
/api/wealth/unclaimed$0.50Find unclaimed money owed to you/api/wealth/card-benefit$0.10Credit-Card Benefit Coverage CheckYour first customer in 30 days
- Search yourself, your family, and five friends. Found money is the whole pitch, and you’ll usually find some.
- Write your one-page disclosure: flat fee, no percentage, owners can search free themselves, you never handle funds.
- Read your state’s finder rules (or your country’s equivalent) and confirm your flat-fee posture clears them.
- Offer the search free to three local estate attorneys or executors in exchange for referrals; estates are the highest-yield searches.
Hand this to your assistant
This blueprint has a machine-readable page with the current endpoints, prices, and setup steps. Paste this into Claude, ChatGPT, or any assistant that can fetch a URL:
Machine page: https://pulse.theaslangroupllc.com/fieldguide/unclaimed-money-finder.json
Start this one
The engines are pay-per-call, no subscription. Agents pay per call over x402 (USDC on Base or Solana). If you're a human, get a starter key: it takes about a minute, includes a $0.25 trial balance, and tops up by card (Stripe) or USDC. No crypto wallet required. Prefer email? Write to info@theaslangroupllc.com with the subject "Starter key: unclaimed-money-finder" and we'll provision one by hand, usually the same day.
The Field Guide book, with all 75 blueprints expanded, is in progress. The hub is free either way.