Some Marylanders are about to get a very unexpected payday courtesy of the state comptroller’s office.
After a recent law change and a major tech upgrade, the state has started automatically mailing checks to residents who are listed as owners of smaller unclaimed-property accounts. Around 1,000 of those surprise checks went out in December, and officials say roughly 5,800 more are slated to land in mailboxes in late March. The typical payout is about $500.
The effort builds on a new claims platform rolled out last fall that lets the state verify people more quickly and issue “quick pay” checks for amounts under $5,000, trimming what used to be months of waiting for relatively modest sums.
New System Cuts the Paperwork
Out is the aging mainframe, in is the Kelmar Abandoned Property System (KAPS), a cloud-based platform that powers the comptroller’s unclaimed-property operation, according to Bloomberg Tax. KAPS includes a “Quick Pay” feature that can automatically generate payments on accounts below the $5,000 mark.
State officials say the system lets people upload documents online, track claims in real time, and cuts down on the manual back-and-forth that used to bog down the process.
How Many Checks Are Heading to Mailboxes
About 1,000 automatic checks were mailed in December, and the comptroller’s office expects another wave of roughly 5,800 checks to go out in late March. The average amount in those envelopes sits at around $500.
That is just a sliver of what is out there. Maryland is holding more than 14.3 million unclaimed property accounts worth in excess of $2.7 billion, with the average account at $189.47. To avoid sending money to the wrong place, the office first sends a test letter about 45 days before a check is issued to confirm the address. Even with automation, officials say it still takes about three months from start to finish to process and mail a payment.
To help deter fraudsters from targeting tiny balances, the comptroller’s online listings show very small claims under $50 as a $0–$100 range, according to WMAR2 News.
How to Verify a Payout and Avoid Scams
If an unexpected check shows up, residents are urged to do a quick reality check before running to the bank. Make sure your name appears in the official unclaimed-property search and that any mailing clearly carries state letterhead.
You can use the search tool on the Maryland Comptroller site and call the Comptroller’s Unclaimed Property Division if something feels off. Officials warn residents to ignore unsolicited calls or emails that try to steer them toward unofficial websites or alternative payment methods.
Big Picture: Modernization Is Returning Cash
The tech overhaul is already moving serious money. The comptroller’s office returned $121 million in unclaimed property in fiscal 2025 and, since KAPS went live in October, has processed more than 18,000 claims totaling about $33 million, according to MoCo Show.
Officials say the combination of Quick Pay and stronger data-matching should keep cutting wait times and help reunite Marylanders with smaller sums automatically, without requiring them to file a formal claim.
