Find Unclaimed Money in Montgomery County
Montgomery County is Maryland's most populous county, with over one million residents, and it has two separate sources of unclaimed money worth checking. The Maryland Comptroller holds funds from banks, insurers, wages, and dozens of other sources statewide, while the Montgomery County Division of Treasury handles unclaimed property tax refunds and stale-dated county checks locally. Both searches are free, and both can turn up money you did not know was waiting.
Montgomery County Unclaimed Money Overview
Montgomery County Unclaimed Money: Two Programs, Two Searches
Most Maryland residents only know about the statewide program run by the Maryland Comptroller, but Montgomery County residents have a second place to check. The county's own Division of Treasury holds unclaimed property tax refunds, overpayment refunds, and stale-dated checks that were issued by the county and never cashed. These funds stay at the county level until they are transferred to the state after several years of inactivity.
The statewide program is the larger of the two. Under Maryland Code §17-101, all holders doing business in Maryland must report and transfer dormant accounts to the Comptroller. That covers banks, insurance companies, credit unions, utilities, and employers. Montgomery County's one million residents represent a significant share of the state's total unclaimed fund pool. With that many people cycling through jobs, banks, and addresses over time, the database likely holds a substantial number of Montgomery County accounts.
The county program is narrower. It covers property tax refunds that went uncollected, county-issued checks that were never deposited, and similar county-generated funds. If you overpaid your property taxes at any point and never got a refund, or if the county issued you a check that you do not remember receiving, that money may still be sitting with the Division of Treasury.
Montgomery County Division of Treasury Contact
The Montgomery County Department of Finance, Division of Treasury, handles county-level unclaimed refunds and stale-dated check inquiries. The primary office is at 27 Courthouse Square, Suite 200, Rockville, MD 20850. A secondary location is at 255 Rockville Pike, Suite L-15, Rockville, MD 20850. The main phone number is (240) 777-0311. You can also reach the county through the MC311 service by dialing 311 from within the county.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The fax number is (240) 777-8947. Email can be sent to treasury.finance@montgomerycountymd.gov. Staff can tell you whether the county holds any unclaimed funds under your name and what documentation you need to file a claim. The county requires a government-issued photo ID and address verification to process a claim for county-held refunds.
The county sends written notices when it identifies dormant property that has been inactive for three or more years. If you receive such a notice, you have 30 days to respond. Missing the notice does not mean you lose the money, but it does mean the process may take longer to initiate on your end.
Note: Unclaimed refunds that stay with the county long enough are eventually transferred to the Maryland Comptroller. Once that happens, they show up in the statewide database and must be claimed through the state process, not the county.
Searching the Montgomery County Unclaimed Funds Database
For the statewide program, the main search tool is the ClaimItMD portal. Enter your name and browse results at no cost. The portal shows the type of property and the holder who reported it. You can also search by business name if you owned or operated a business in Rockville, Bethesda, Silver Spring, or elsewhere in the county.
The screenshot below shows the Maryland Comptroller's main unclaimed property portal. It is the state's official gateway for all unclaimed fund searches and claims, including those from Montgomery County residents.
Visit the Maryland Comptroller unclaimed property page to access both the search tool and the claim submission system, along with instructions on what documents to gather before you file.
The portal is updated regularly as holders submit new reports, so it is worth checking at least once a year even if you found nothing on a previous search.
Montgomery County also has a Comptroller field office right inside the county. The Wheaton field office is at 11002 Veirs Mill Road, Suite 408, Wheaton, MD 20902. The phone there is 301-942-5400. This is a convenient in-person option for Montgomery County residents who want to speak with state Comptroller staff directly about a pending claim or a question about documents needed.
Montgomery County Tax Sale Surplus Funds
Montgomery County holds its annual tax sale on the second Monday of June each year. The interest rate on tax sale certificates is 20% per annum, which is higher than most Maryland counties. The minimum bid threshold is $250. Former property owners have a redemption window of 6 to 9 months from the sale date to pay off the delinquent taxes and reclaim the property before losing title entirely.
When a tax sale generates proceeds above the total taxes and fees owed, the surplus belongs to the former property owner. These excess funds are held by the county and must be claimed through the Finance Department. The screenshot below shows the county's tax sale information page, which explains the annual process, notice requirements, and how to inquire about surplus funds.
The Montgomery County Finance tax sale page provides the full process overview for the county's annual tax lien auction and explains how former owners can pursue surplus fund claims.
Tax sale surplus funds are a less obvious form of unclaimed money. Many former owners do not realize a surplus was generated, particularly if they had already vacated the property by the time the auction took place.
How to File a Montgomery County Unclaimed Money Claim
For the statewide program, filing a claim through ClaimItMD requires three things: a government-issued photo ID, proof of your Social Security number, and the completed COT-ST912 claim form. The form is available as a PDF download. You can submit your claim online or by mail. Online claims process in 6 to 12 weeks. Mail claims take 12 to 24 weeks from the date the Comptroller receives your package.
Under Maryland Code §17-401, the state must pay an approved claim within 30 days. The 30-day payment window starts from when the claim is approved, not from when you submit it. The review and approval process is what takes most of the time. For large or complex claims, the Comptroller may request additional documentation before approving.
Comptroller field office locations are shown in the image below, which is useful for Montgomery County residents deciding whether to visit the Wheaton office or handle the process by mail.
The Maryland Comptroller field office locations page lists all offices statewide, including the Wheaton office at 11002 Veirs Mill Rd., Suite 408, which serves Montgomery County residents directly.
The Wheaton office handles general Comptroller business. Call 301-942-5400 to confirm what services are available in person before making the trip.
Common Unclaimed Property Types in Montgomery County
Montgomery County has a large concentration of federal government workers, contractors, and professionals who have held multiple jobs over their careers. Each job change creates a potential source of unclaimed money: old 401(k) balances that were never rolled over, final paychecks that went uncashed, or FSA refunds from accounts that closed at year end. These show up in the state database after the former employer reports them as dormant.
Bank accounts are the most common property type statewide. Checking and savings accounts go dormant after three years of no activity under Maryland Code §17-102. If you closed an account but did not fully drain it, the remaining balance may have been turned over to the state. The same applies to certificates of deposit that matured and sat uncollected.
Insurance proceeds are another significant category. Montgomery County has high rates of life insurance ownership, and policy proceeds sometimes go unclaimed because beneficiaries do not know about the policy or cannot find the insurer. The Comptroller's database will show these accounts under the beneficiary's name if the insurance company turned them over.
Under Maryland Code §17-404, finder agreements signed within 24 months of property being reported to the state are void by law. You never owe a fee to anyone to search or claim your own money. The state portal is free, and the Wheaton field office staff will help you at no charge.
If you have lived in multiple places, the national MissingMoney.com database is worth a search. It pulls unclaimed property data from multiple states and can surface accounts from prior addresses in Virginia, the District of Columbia, or elsewhere.
Montgomery County Regional Service Centers
For county-level services related to finance or refund inquiries, Montgomery County operates several regional centers throughout the county. The Mid-County Regional Services Center at 2424 Reedie Drive in Wheaton covers the Aspen Hill and Wheaton areas and can be reached at 240-777-8100. The Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center is at 4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814, phone 240-777-8200. Silver Spring residents can call 240-777-8400. For Germantown and the UpCounty area, contact MC311 at 240-777-0311 or dial 311 from within the county.
These regional centers do not handle unclaimed property directly, but they can direct you to the right county department for property tax refund questions or stale-dated check inquiries. The Division of Treasury in Rockville remains the primary contact for any county-held unclaimed funds.
Cities in Montgomery County
Eight qualifying cities in Montgomery County have their own unclaimed money pages with more local detail.
Nearby Counties
Montgomery County borders three other Maryland counties. If you have owned property or lived in any of them, it is worth checking those programs too.