Terms of service

Recoupa LLC ("Recoupa," "we," "our") is a service that helps US residents find and reclaim unclaimed property held by state unclaimed-property programs. We search public records, surface matches, prepare the paperwork the state requires, and file the claim on your behalf as your authorized agent. When the state approves the claim, it pays you directly — and pays our contingency fee to us separately under the same agreement (see Section 4). We never hold or handle your funds.

We are not a law firm. We do not provide legal advice. For claims that turn out to involve complex estate, tax, or ownership-dispute questions, you may need an attorney — we'll tell you when we think that's the case.

• You must be at least 18 years old.
• You must be a resident of a US state we serve. The list of supported states is shown on /search and changes as we expand.
• You must have a legitimate claim to the property you file for — typically because the property is in your name, you're the legal heir / executor / beneficiary, or you are a court-appointed representative.

When you choose to file a claim through Recoupa, you sign an engagement letter that authorizes us to act as your agent in front of the relevant state unclaimed-property office. The engagement letter is a binding contract between you and Recoupa. By signing it (electronically) you confirm:

• You are the rightful claimant for the listed property.
• Every fact you provide to Recoupa is true to the best of your knowledge.
• You agree that, per the signed agreement, the state pays Recoupa's fee directly to Recoupa and pays the remainder of the recovered property directly to you.
• You will cooperate in providing additional documentation if the state requests it.

You can withdraw the engagement at any time before the state has paid out by emailing legal@recoupa.co. If you withdraw after a claim has been filed but before payment, we may charge a reasonable filing-cost fee (currently $0 — but see Section 4).

Recoupa works on a contingency basis — you pay nothing upfront and nothing if we don't recover funds for you. When the state pays out a claim we've filed, it issues separate payments per the percentages in your signed engagement letter: your share is paid directly to you, and our fee is paid directly to us.

In California, our fee is 10% of the recovered property — the maximum permitted under California Code of Civil Procedure §1582, which also requires the agreement to be in writing and signed by you. The fee is always disclosed in the engagement letter you sign before we file anything. You can compare it to the state's self-service option (which is free — and which we'll tell you about when it's the better choice).

Every state we expand into caps or regulates recovery fees in its own way; our fee will always comply with the applicable state's cap and will be stated in the engagement letter for that claim.

Simple cash claims are often paid in 30 to 60 days once filed. California law allows the State Controller up to 180 days to review a complete claim, and claims involving securities, estates, or multiple owners can take longer. We don't control the state's timeline and can't guarantee a specific date. Your case manager (or, for in-app claims, your status page at /p/<your-slug>) will reflect the current stage and any actions you need to take.

• Provide accurate information. Misstatements to us — or, through us, to the state — can result in denied claims, removal from the platform, and in serious cases referral to law enforcement.
• Maintain your contact information. We communicate primarily by email. If your address changes after we've filed, tell us — funds may bounce back if the state has the old address.
• Respond to documentation requests. If the state asks for additional proof (which they often do), you have to supply it within the state's deadline or the claim will be denied.
• Use the service for yourself or someone you legally represent. Recoupa is not a third-party service for filing strangers' claims.

What we're responsible for

• Filing your claim accurately based on the information you provide.
• Communicating with the state on your behalf during the claim review.
• Monitoring your claim through to payment and notifying you when the state issues your check.
• Protecting your information per our privacy policy.

What we're not responsible for

• The state's decision to approve, partially approve, or deny a claim.
• The state's timeline.
• Information you provided to us that turns out to be inaccurate or incomplete — we'll do our best, but the burden of proof for ownership rests with you.
• Tax consequences of recovered funds. Most recoveries are taxable as ordinary income; you should consult a tax professional. We'll issue a 1099-MISC where required.
• Recoveries from sources we don't cover (federal agencies, foreign governments, private institutions without unclaimed-property reporting).

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Recoupa is not liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages arising from your use of the service. Our total liability for any claim related to the service is limited to the fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose. Some states don't allow exclusion of certain damages — in those states, this limitation applies to the maximum extent the state permits.

Recoupa owns the website, the application code, the workflow, and all trademarks. You retain ownership of the documents you upload and the personal information you provide; we only use that material as described in the privacy policy. You grant us a limited license to use that material to provide the service to you.

You can stop using Recoupa at any time and close your account by emailing legal@recoupa.co. We may terminate or suspend your account if we believe you've violated these terms, supplied materially inaccurate information, or used Recoupa for unlawful purposes. Engagements already in progress are governed by the engagement letter and Section 3 above.

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute between you and Recoupa relating to the service will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Los Angeles County, California, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

We may update these terms from time to time. If we make a material change we'll email account holders and post a notice on the home page at least 14 days before the change takes effect. Continued use of the service after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

Email: legal@recoupa.co

If you check the SMS consent box when providing your contact details during the claim-creation flow (the contact step at /claim) and submit your mobile number, you are agreeing to receive text messages from Recoupa about your unclaimed-property claim. SMS is opt-in only — we do not send text messages to anyone who hasn't completed this opt-in step on the web form, and we record the timestamp of your consent on your claim record.

Messages you may receive include claim status updates, requests for additional documentation the state has asked for, scheduling confirmations, and payout notifications when the state releases recovered funds. Message frequency varies depending on what stage your claim is in and how quickly the state responds — you may receive several messages in a week during an active review and then nothing for a month while waiting on the state.

Message and data rates may apply based on your mobile plan. Recoupa does not charge you for SMS messages, but your mobile carrier may.

Recoupa uses Telnyx, a 10DLC-registered messaging platform, to deliver these messages through US mobile carriers. Your carrier may filter, delay, or block messages, and neither Recoupa nor Telnyx is responsible for messages that don't reach you because of carrier filtering or device problems. If you stop receiving expected updates, check your claim page directly or email claims@recoupa.co.

You can opt out of SMS at any time by replying STOP to any message we send. The STOP opt-out takes effect immediately and is permanent for this account — we will not text you again unless you actively re-opt-in by re-submitting the consent form. Reply HELP and you'll get a message back with contact information for support. How we handle the phone number, delivery metadata, and opt-out records is described in the "SMS communications" section of our privacy policy.

If any provision of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest remain in effect.

These terms, the engagement letter you sign for any specific claim, and the privacy policy are the entire agreement between you and Recoupa with respect to the service. They supersede any prior agreement or understanding.