It's that time of year again! BBB | Greater MD reminds consumers to be on the lookout for the official list of unclaimed property in their local newspapers. The Maryland Comptroller issued a list of 66,000 accounts worth over $46 million, in the form of a separate insert that only appears in home-delivered publications. The list first appeared in various newspapers on April 3, 2008 - and will continue to run through April 23, 2008.
The list gives the property owner's name, address, if there is one, and a reference number for unclaimed property. Persons who believe they might be a match can call the Unit of Unclaimed Property at 410-767-1700 or 1-800-782-7382. Claim forms can be downloaded from the Web site, www.marylandtaxes.com, or can be requested over the phone.
BBB reminds consumers that there are scam artists out there who will charge a fee to retrieve information regarding unclaimed property. This information is updated annually and is free to the public. If you receive a letter congratulating you on the discovery of unclaimed property, it may be true, but check it out yourself by visiting www.marylandtaxes.com or www.missingmoney.com. BBB stresses that no advance fees should be paid to recover unclaimed property. If solicited for such fees, check out that company's Reliability Report on www.bbb.org or contact BBB via email at info@greatermd.bbb.org.
According to the government, unclaimed property is defined as any financial asset with no activity by its owner for an extended period of time. This includes unclaimed wages or commissions; savings and checking accounts; stock dividends, insurance proceeds, underlying shares, customer deposits or overpayments; certificates of deposit, credit balances, refunds, money orders and safe deposit box contents. People may lose track of their assets for different reasons, including:
- the relocation of their place of business or residence
- a check is accidentally discarded, lost or forgotten
- a rightful owner dies and relatives are unaware of a bank account, safe deposit box, stock or other property
- a clerical error occurs at the owner's previous place of employment or financial institution that alters the property owner's name or address and which results in returned mail.
According to the Maryland Comptroller's office, along with newspaper advertising, the Comptroller's Office also searches for owners of unclaimed funds by matching files with Internal Revenue Service and state Motor Vehicle Administration records and setting up computers at the Maryland State Fair and other events to allow people to check the agency's files of unclaimed funds.
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