Find Money, Property State Owes You: Check Maryland Database

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Money and the rights to real estate, life insurance policies and other valuables that belong to Marylanders may be sitting in government accounts, but it's up to search a state database to claim your property.

On National Unclaimed Property Day Feb. 1, Comptroller Brooke Lierman urged Marylanders to check the state’s unclaimed property database to see if they can be reunited with cash and property that is rightfully theirs. The state agency has more than 1.3 million accounts with a value of more than $2 billion in unclaimed property.

“The Unclaimed Property program strives to reunite Marylanders with money or items that have ended up in the state’s custody,” Lierman said in a news release. “Everyone should check the list to see if your name or a family member’s name is there. The discovery could be life changing. The property could include long-forgotten bank accounts, stocks or jewelry left in safety deposit boxes or other items of quality.”

Nearly 33 million people in the United States — 1 in every 7 — has unclaimed property: financial accounts or items of value in which the owner has not been active for several years, according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.

Individuals and businesses can search the online Unclaimed Property database.

Lierman urges anyone who finds their name or that of a family member on the list to contact the office at 410-767-1700 (Central Maryland) or toll-free at 1-800-782-7383 or by email at unclaim@marylandtaxes.gov to find out how to reclaim their lost property.

In fiscal year 2021, the Comptroller’s Office honored 33,746 claims totaling more than $61 million. Since 2007, the office has returned more than $970 million in unclaimed property to its rightful owners.

The unclaimed property the state monitors includes savings accounts, security deposits, insurance proceeds and other valuables which are reported to the state as unclaimed by banks and other financial institutions after three years.

The owners or their legitimate heirs can claim the funds at any time. There is no statute of limitations.

You can also conduct a nationwide search by state using the NAUPA and MissingMoney websites.

The U.S. government lacks a central website to find unclaimed funds. To search for unclaimed money that may be lying in a different state's treasury, check this list of treasurer's offices.

If you don't have money lying in the state treasury, the government also suggests checking for unclaimed funds from bank failures or unclaimed deposits from credit union closures. You could also check for unclaimed or undelivered tax refunds or a refund from an FHA-insured mortgage.

Finally, you can check for unclaimed back wages, pension money or life insurance funds. Here is how to find out how to search for these unclaimed funds.