Comptroller tells committee bill to modernize unclaimed-property rules adds cryptocurrencies, seeks IT funding from fund

The committee heard House Bill 761, sponsored by Comptroller Brooke Lierman, to modernize Maryland’s Unclaimed Property Act. The comptroller told the committee the bill would update reporting procedures, add virtual currencies to the list of reportable/unclaimed property, streamline claims for small amounts and clarify rules for establishing death of an insured person or annuitant so beneficiaries can receive life-insurance proceeds and annuities more quickly.

Comptroller Lierman said the bill also would allow the unclaimed-property fund to pay up to $5 million per year for ongoing IT costs tied to the unclaimed-property system, cybersecurity, and customer-relations needs across the agency. Testimony explained much of the state’s unclaimed-property infrastructure is aging; the comptroller said Maryland recently adopted software used by about 40 other states and needs annual maintenance funds for systems such as a new CRM (customer relationship management) tool that the agency expects will improve constituent service.

Committee members probed how the fund’s existing designated uses interact with the proposed authority. Lierman said the proposal does not change the special fund’s other statutory uses — including allocations to eviction access-to-counsel, tax clinics for low-income Marylanders and other purposes — and said the $5 million cap would not be spent in full every year. Members asked how large the unclaimed-property fund is; the comptroller said current accounting systems are opaque but that the new statewide system will make totals and flows far more transparent. Lierman said her office would follow up by email with clearer historic balance and flow figures for the committee.

Questions about the addition of virtual currency to the statute centered on custody and disposition. The comptroller said the bill only requires holders to remit unclaimed virtual-currency assets to the state when appropriate; the state would hold such assets for rightful owners or return them if claimed. If claimants never surface, the money remains in the unclaimed-property fund like other unclaimed assets.

No committee vote was taken at the hearing. Lierman said three sponsor amendments prepared for the bill clarify definitions of gift cards and make technical changes requested by the Maryland Insurance Administration. The comptroller urged a favorable report and agreed to provide follow-up financial detail requested by members.