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In New York, some unclaimed properties must also be advertised in the newspaper. Contact us to learn more about our enterprise solution that supports advertising in New York.
The requirements for due diligence vary by business category and state. Some states require it if the owner has a valid address. Others require it depending on the property's value, which is called a state threshold. States also have specific mailing window requirements for sending letters. The Compliance Resources page includes all due diligence requirements for all states.
Click Compliance Resources on the menu, then click the All tab and download the Due Diligence by State document from the Reporting Information section.
Create due diligence letters
Learn how to create these state-required notices that allow property owners to claim their property before it is turned over to the state.
If you know a property's address is incorrect, you might not need to mail a due diligence letter. The Bad Address Exception column of the Due Diligence by State document shows which states don't require letters to be sent to incorrect addresses.
Due diligence letters are only created if the following criteria is met:
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The property's report year must be less than or equal to the selected year.
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The property owner must have a valid last name or business name and address.
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The property must have one of the following statuses: Open for reporting (O), Make reportable (F), or Exempt (E).
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The property's total amount due must be greater than or equal to the state threshold.
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The property's Returned Post Office (RPO) mail field must not be selected.
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- Select a report year from the dropdown and select the states you are creating due diligence letters for, then click Next.
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The report year is the year when the property's dormancy period ended. The current report year is selected by default.
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The report year is based on reporting periods. For example, if a state's reporting period is from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, the report year is 2024, even if you are reporting in the spring of 2025. You can find the report year and reporting period for each state under Filing Dates on the By State/Province tab of the Compliance Resources page.
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States have different start and end dates for mailing due diligence letters. The Due diligence window open filter automatically shows which states' due diligence letter mailing windows are currently open. Clear the filter to show all states.CAUTION:
Mailing letters outside of a state's due diligence window does not meet the state's due diligence requirements.
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The Threshold column shows the minimum property value requirement for due diligence letters for each state. Due diligence letters will not be created for properties whose value is below the state threshold.
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- Review the property filters, then click Next. Click Show advanced filters for more options.
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Due diligence sent date is the date when you intended to mail a due diligence letter to the property owner. If this field is empty, you have not sent a due diligence letter to the owner yet. Selecting Include all properties will also include properties that you have already mailed letters for.
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All property codes are selected by default. To select specific property codes, enter them in the Property codes field or select them from the dropdown. Click the X icon to clear a selection.Note:
The Property codes dropdown shows the global property codes and might not include all state-specific codes.
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A state threshold is the minimum property value requirement for sending due diligence letters to the state. Due diligence letters are not required for properties with values below the state threshold amount. Select Include all properties to create letters for properties both above and below the state thresholds.
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In the state dormancy section, select Only include dormant properties to include properties whose dormancy period ended in the selected report year. Select Include all properties to also include properties that are not dormant yet.
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- At the Summary step, click Download PDF letters to download the letters to your computer to print and mail them to the property owners.
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To view which properties due diligence letters were created for, click Download file and select either .xlsx or .csv.
Note:Letters are not created for properties that do not meet state due diligence requirements. It is still beneficial to go through the process and keep a record that no properties were found that meet the requirements. If no letters were created and you think they should have been, you might have missing data on the Properties page or need to adjust the filters in the previous steps. Read about troubleshooting due diligence letters for more details.
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Troubleshoot due diligence letters
If due diligence letters are not being created for properties and you think they should be, check the following common issues.
If you get the "Unable to create letters" error message at the end of the process, something failed on our end and the letters could not be created.
If you selected to include all properties regardless of the due diligence sent date field, create the due diligence letters again with the same filters and settings. The due diligence sent date will automatically update when you create the letters again.
If you selected to only include properties that have no due diligence sent date, the field was updated with the default date or the date you selected even though no letters were created.
- Follow the steps in the article on bulk editing properties. When editing the file, clear the date in the Due diligence sent date field.
- Create the due diligence letters again with the same filters and settings.
Due diligence letters are only created if the property's report year is less than or equal to the selected year. Check that the correct report year was selected from the State and Year step of the due diligence letter process.
A state threshold is the minimum property value requirement for sending due diligence letters to the state. Due diligence letters are not required for properties with values below the state threshold, but you can still create and send them.
- At the Property Filters step, click Show advanced filters.
- In the State threshold section, select Include all properties.
The properties will only be combined if the property owner's name and address are an exact match on the properties.
Due diligence letters are only created for properties will the following statuses: Open for reporting (O), Make reportable (F), and Exempt (E).
- Select a new status from the dropdown if needed, then click Save and try creating due diligence letters again.
Due diligence letters are not created if a property owner's Last name or Business name field is blank.
- Edit the last name or business name if needed, then click Save and try creating due diligence letters again.
The report state might be different from the property owner's address state. If you used the Alternate filing state field on a property, the report state should match that field.
Properties with a blank State field are reported to your business's state of incorporation. Select your business's state of incorporation to create letters for foreign properties or properties that have a blank State field but have either the Street address, Additional address information, or Additional address information 2 field filled in.
If the property owner does not have a valid address, a letter will not be created.
Select your business's state of incorporation to create letters for foreign properties or properties that have a blank State field but have either the Street address, or Additional address information, or Additional address information 2 field filled in.
- Edit the Address fields if needed, then click Save and try creating due diligence letters again.
The Returned Post Office (RPO) mail field is used to indicate that you previously mailed a due diligence letter to the owner, but it was returned by the post office. If a property's Returned Post Office (RPO) mail checkbox is selected, the property is excluded from future due diligence letter mailings.
If you want to send a due diligence letter to this address anyway, or if you had selected the Returned Post Office (RPO) mail checkbox by accident, follow these steps:
- Scroll down and expand the Primary owner details section, then click Show alternate filing state and RPO.
- Clear the Returned Post Office (RPO) mail checkbox, click Save, and try creating due diligence letters again.
Download due diligence letters
Follow these steps to view and download your due diligence letters.
- Use the quick filters to narrow down the results and find letters.
- Report year
- The year the properties were due.
- State
- The state where the due diligence letter was sent.
Tip:To sort the letters by ascending or descending order in a column, click the column header.
- Click the More options icon in the Action column and select Download.
Note:If you selected multiple states at the State and Year step of the due diligence letter process, the following files for those states are included in the zip file:
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Letters in .pdf format.
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A list of properties due diligence letters were created for in .xlsx and .csv format.
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What to do if a due diligence letter is returned by the post office
Find out how to indicate on a property that a due diligence letter was returned by the post office.
- Scroll down and expand the Primary owner details section, then click Show alternate filing state and RPO.
- Select the Returned Post Office (RPO) mail checkbox. Then in the RPO Date field, enter the date that the RPO due diligence letter was received, in MM/DD/YYYY format.