Create due diligence letters

After you have imported your properties and the required dormancy period has passed, you must try to contact the property owners to inform them that you are holding their property. Create due diligence letters using the template, then download the letters to send to the owners.

 

Prerequisites:

  1. Check the due diligence requirements for each state on the Compliance Resources page. Go to the All tab and download the Due Diligence by State document from the Reporting Information section.

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.

  1. Due diligence letters are only created if the following criteria is met:

    • The property’s report year must be less than or equal to the selected year.

    • The property owner must have a valid last name or business name and address.

    • The property must have one of the following statuses: Open for reporting (O), Make reportable (F), or Exempt (E).

    • The property’s total amount due must be greater than or equal to the state threshold.

    • The property’s Returned Post Office (RPO) mail field must not be selected.

 

Follow these steps to create due diligence letters:

  1. On the side menu, click Due Diligence, then select Create Letters from the dropdown.
  2. Verify that your claim contact information is correct. Then click Next.

If the information isn’t correct, click Edit contact information. Read the help article on contacts for more instructions and details about these fields.

  1. Select a report year from the dropdown and select the states you are creating due diligence letters for, then click Next.

    • The report year is the year when the property’s dormancy period ended. The current report year is selected by default.

      • 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.

    • 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.

Mailing letters outside of a state’s due diligence window does not meet the state’s due diligence requirements.

    • 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.
  1. Review the property filters, then click Next. Click Show advanced filters for more options.

    • 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.

    • 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 to clear a selection.

The Property codes dropdown shows the global property codes and might not include all state-specific codes.

    • 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.

    • 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.

  1. Review the letter settings and property settings. Click Finish with x properties when you are ready to create the due diligence letters.
    • To also create due diligence letters for additional owners of properties, select Create letters for additional owners. This will increase the total number of letters created.
    • Review, and if necessary, update the due diligence sent date and claim cut off date. If selected, these fields automatically update on the Property details page when you create the letters.
      • The due diligence sent date shows when a due diligence letter was intended to be mailed for the property.
      • The claim cut off date is the date up until due diligence letter responses can be received from the property owner. This field shows why a property might have been escheated (paid) to the state even if the owner replied to a letter. It is set to 30 days after the due diligence sent date by default but can be changed to any date after the due diligence sent date.

For tracking and audit purposes, we recommend leaving these property settings selected.

  1. At the Summary step, click Download PDF letters to download the letters to your computer to print and mail them to the property owners.
    • To view which properties due diligence letters were created for, click Download file and select either .xlsx or .csv.

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 the article on troubleshooting due diligence letters for more details.