No agreement to locate, deliver, recover, or assist in the recovery of property reported under Section 1530, entered into between the date a report is filed under subdivision (d) of Section 1530 and the date of publication of notice under Section 1531 is valid. Such an agreement made after publication of notice is valid if the fee or compensation agreed upon is not in excess of 10 percent of the recoverable property and the agreement is in writing and signed by the owner after disclosure in the agreement of the nature and value of the property and the name and address of the person or entity in possession of the property. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent an owner from asserting, at any time, that any agreement to locate property is based upon an excessive or unjust consideration.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, records of the Controller’s office pertaining to unclaimed property are not available for public inspection or copying until after publication of notice of the property or, if publication of notice of the property is not required, until one year after delivery of the property to the Controller.