Nationwide — Felicia Jeffries, a veteran entrepreneur and the author of more than six books, says that in 2022, she was able to help 100 Black families secure more than $75,000 in unclaimed money. In fact, her book, Treasure Hunter’s Guide to Finding Unclaimed Money, is one of her top-selling publications.
Unclaimed money is money that you never received because perhaps the payer couldn’t contact you. Therefore, it was sent to the treasury department in the state that you live in.
According to Forbes, unclaimed money can come from a variety of sources including abandoned bank accounts, company refunds, annuities, customer overpayments, payroll checks, investment accounts, trust distributions, life insurance payments, utility security deposits, and more.
Felicia’s book gives all the step-by-step details on what families and individuals should do and avoid when attempting to secure unclaimed money. She comments, “I have helped older people find money that was theirs. Many of them don’t know how to use a computer, and if they try, they often end up giving up due to frustration.”
In the beginning, she would only charge them $50 for her time to provide the service and would sit on the phone and guide them through the process after she completed the search. Then she and she walks them through how to file to get their money. She didn’t take money from their money once she found the money that was owed to them, because she just didn’t think it was right to do since many of them are on fixed incomes. So, if they found $2,500, it all was theirs, and she just charged a small upfront fee for her time.
She found $23,000 for a business recently that the owners didn’t know was just sitting there. This is ultimately what inspired her to write and publish Treasure Hunter’s Guide to Finding Unclaimed Money. She says that 1 out of 10 people have money they don’t realize is there, and it becomes kind of fun to search for the money once you understand how to properly do it.”
Felicia also helps entrepreneurs get access to funding for their businesses. Her other book, Get Grants for Your Small Business How to Apply and Win, is one of the only books on the market that reveals how to qualify for legit business grants.
