Maryland Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman and the Office of the Comptroller are celebrating National Unclaimed Property Day on February 1, 2025, highlighting the state’s free unclaimed property service, which reunited Marylanders with $60 million in lost assets in FY 2024, while also introducing modernization efforts and legislative updates to improve the claims process.
Per the news release: “Maryland Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman and the Office of the Comptroller invite Marylanders to join in a celebration of National Unclaimed Property Day on Saturday, February 1, 2025.
Unclaimed Property Day in Maryland highlights the state’s free unclaimed property service that has reunited Marylanders with their lost and forgotten assets for more than 50 years. Maryland’s Unclaimed Property Division has reunited Marylanders with $60 million to rightful owners and their heirs in FY 2024.
“I am proud of the work that our Unclaimed Property Division is doing to ensure assets are returned to their rightful owners,” Comptroller Lierman said. “Over the last two years, we have increased our outreach significantly across the state to make sure people know that we are safeguarding their property and how to get it back. Not only is it our statutory duty, but it’s the right thing to do, and is a key way to make government work better for Marylanders.”
Unclaimed Property is typically money reported to the Comptroller’s Office by financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporations. If an account at a financial institution or business has no activity, or a check is unclaimed for three years in Maryland, the property in that account is considered unclaimed and must be reported to the state.
Under Comptroller Lierman’s leadership, the Unclaimed Property Division has undergone major modernization efforts, including moving from paper claims and a mainframe to new claims processes, including filing claims online via Maryland OneStop. By the end of 2025, Maryland will join 40 other states in adopting the KAPS unclaimed property system, which will help expedite claims processing.
Comptroller Lierman will also introduce legislation to update Maryland’s Abandoned Property Act (HB761/SB665), which would allow the state to collect newer forms of property, including virtual currency (cryptocurrency), gift cards, and certain individual retirement accounts. The proposal would also allow Marylanders to receive their unclaimed property, valued at less than $5,000, faster without filing a claim.
The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) estimates that one in seven people in the United States have unclaimed property, and those states returned $4.5 billion in unclaimed property last fiscal year.
Marylanders are encouraged to search the Unclaimed Property database for abandoned property that may belong to them, and to file a claim online.
Questions about unclaimed property can be emailed to [email protected] or Marylanders can call 410-767-1700.”