(a) When the department is required to give notice of the abandonment of property or of termination of a loan, the department shall mail notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known owner at the most recent address of the owner as shown on the department's records. If the department does not know the identity of the owner, or does not have an address for the owner, or does not receive written proof of receipt of the mailed notice within 30 days of the date the notice was mailed, the department shall publish notice, at least once each week for two consecutive weeks, in a newspaper of general circulation in both Montgomery County and the county in which the last known address, if available, of the owner, if known, is located.
(b) The published notice shall contain all of the following:
(1) A description of the unclaimed property.
(2) The name and last known address of the owner, if available.
(3) A request that all persons who may have any knowledge of the location of the owner provide written notice to the department.
(4) A statement that if written assertion of title is not presented by the owner to the department within 90 days from the date of the second published notice, the property shall be deemed abandoned or donated and shall become the property of the department.
(c) If no written assertion of title has been presented by the owner to the department within 90 days from the date of the second published notice, title to the property shall vest in the department, free of all claims of the owner and of all persons claiming under the owner.
(d) One who purchases or otherwise acquires property from the department acquires good and marketable title to the property if the department has acquired title to the property under this section.
Last modified: May 3, 2021