Statutory Brief · Audit Defense
Inside Contingent-Fee Unclaimed Property Audits: Kelmar, Verus & Defense Strategy
Most U.S. states delegate corporate unclaimed property examinations to private contingent-fee firms representing 10 to 30+ states simultaneously.
Key Statutory Findings & Holder Guidance
Audit notices routinely arrive for 15–30 participating states under a single Lead Auditor (commonly Kelmar Associates, Verus Financial, Discovery Audit Services, or Specialty Audit Services).
Establish strict NDAs, confirm statutory authority for every listed state, and exclude non-target subsidiaries before submitting check registers.
Never accept initial gross extrapolation schedules without testing base-period checks for voids, reissues, ACH replacements, and B2B exemptions.
Corporate finance and tax teams evaluating these rules should verify entity-specific incorporation history and prior filing logs before submitting positive or negative reports to state portals.