Four Maryland residents – two from Baltimore and one each from Hyattsville and La Plata – have joined the list of this year’s Unclaimed Property recipients who have been identified with accounts as part of Comptroller Peter Franchot’s annual publication. The four separate claims total more than $564,000 from a list published this spring and distributed in newspapers statewide. The publication included more than 80,000 new unclaimed property accounts worth more than $61 million.
The fourth recipient, Harry Yeide III of Hyattsville, was notified of more than $85,000 that had been passed from his late father to his mother, who passed away earlier this year. The Unclaimed Property unit sent a letter to Mr. Yeide informing him of the account’s existence. He said his father had had several accounts and this one had been unknown. The discovered Unclaimed Property funds will be dispersed to his mother’s beneficiaries.
“I was super impressed by the proactive outreach by the Unclaimed Property unit,” Mr. Yeide said. “It made me feel good as a Maryland taxpayer.”
Earlier this summer, a Bethesda woman claimed more than $100,000 in a listed bank account. Since January, 33,695 claimants have received funds worth nearly $51.7 million.
“This is welcome news for these Unclaimed Property recipients and I’m glad my Unclaimed Property staff were able to make the connection to pass along this good news to the rightful owners, “Comptroller Peter Franchot said. “I encourage everyone to check the unclaimed property insert or to visit marylandtaxes.com to look for your name.”
This year, Comptroller Franchot appears on the cover of the insert in The Franchot Zone (or Unclaimed Property cache) full of possessions and financial payoffs that banks, insurance companies and financial institutions were unable to return to the rightful owners. Any of the goods not claimed by their owners eventually go to the state. Visit the Comptroller’s YouTube channel to watch his newest video (available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5LayKI2wzE).
Along with the unclaimed property list, which is published annually as required by law, the Comptroller’s Office also searches tax records to try and locate property owners. In addition, the agency has a booth at the Maryland State Fair, and other events throughout the year, to allow people to check the unclaimed property database.
Marylanders also can check to see if their name is on the unclaimed property list through the Comptroller’s website. Here’s how:
• Go to marylandtaxes.com
• Enter your name in the agency’s database
• Claim your property
Financial institutions, insurance companies and corporations are required to notify the Comptroller’s Office of any property that has gone unclaimed, or without activity, for more than three years. This is usually wages, bank accounts, stocks or dividends, life insurance policies or from safe deposit boxes. When the Comptroller’s Office receives property that isn’t monetary, as required by state law, the items are appraised and the auctioned off on eBay (www.ebay.com/usr/mdcompfranchot). The proceeds are held for the owner in perpetuity. Funds are available to be claimed at any time, with no statute of limitations and are not subject to taxes.
Franchot urges anyone who finds his or her name on the list to contact his office at 410-767-1700 (Central Maryland), or toll-free at 1-800-782-7383, to find out how to reclaim their lost property.
The Comptroller’s Office honored nearly 43,225 claims totaling more than $62 million in Fiscal Year 2016. Since 2007, the Comptroller’s Office has returned more than $585 million in unclaimed property. In total, the agency has more than 1.2 million accounts worth more than $1.5 billion in its Unclaimed Property accounts.
To search the Unclaimed Property database online, visit www.marylandtaxes.com.
