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<section article="gcl" article_name="Commercial Law" number="17-101" title_number="17" title_name="Disposition of Abandoned Property" subtitle_number="1" subtitle_name="Definitions; General Provisions">
  <level label="a">
    <text>In this title the following words have the meanings indicated.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <level label="1">
      <text>“Abandoned property” means personal property that is considered abandoned under this title.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>“Abandoned property” includes property in the custody of the federal government that is classified as “unclaimed property” under federal law.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <text>“Administrator” means the State Comptroller.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <text>“Apparent owner” means a person whose name appears on a record of a holder as the owner of property held, issued, or owing by the holder.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <text>“Banking organization” means any bank, trust company, savings bank, land bank, and any other similar organization engaged in business in the State.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="f">
    <text>“Business association” means any corporation, joint stock company, business trust, statutory trust, partnership, or any association for business purposes of two or more individuals.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="g">
    <text>“County” includes Baltimore City.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="h">
    <text>“Federal government” includes any of its agencies or instrumentalities.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="i">
    <text>“Financial organization” means any savings and loan association or credit union engaged in business in the State.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="j">
    <text>“Gift card” means a gift card described in § 14–1320 of this article.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="k">
    <text>“Gift certificate” has the meaning stated in § 14–1319 of this article.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="l">
    <text>“Holder” means any person who is:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>In possession of property subject to this title belonging to another;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>A trustee, in the case of a trust; or</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Indebted to another on an obligation subject to this title.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="m">
    <text>“Indication of apparent owner interest in property” means:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>A record communicated by the apparent owner to the holder or agent of the holder concerning the property or the account in which the property is held;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>An oral communication by the apparent owner to the holder or agent of the holder concerning the property or the account in which the property is held, if the holder or its agent contemporaneously makes and preserves a record of the fact of the apparent owner’s communication;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>For an account, underlying security, or interest in a business association, the presentment of:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>A check or other instrument of payment of a dividend, interest payment, or other distribution; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Evidence of receipt of a distribution made by electronic or similar means;</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>Activity directed by an apparent owner in the account in which the property is held, including:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Accessing the account or information concerning the account; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>A direction by the apparent owner to increase, decrease, or otherwise change the amount or type of property held in the account;</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>A deposit into or withdrawal from an account at a financial institution, including an automatic deposit or withdrawal previously authorized by the apparent owner other than an automatic reinvestment of dividends or interest;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="6">
      <text>Subject to § 17–301(a)(3) of this title, payment of a premium on an insurance policy; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="7">
      <text>Any other action by the apparent owner that reasonably demonstrates to the holder that the apparent owner knows that the property exists.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="n">
    <text>“Insurance corporation” means any association or corporation transacting in the State the business of insurance on the lives of persons or insurance pertaining to life insurance, including endowments and annuities, disability, accident and health insurance, and property, casualty, and surety insurance, as these terms are defined in the Insurance Article.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="o">
    <text>“Owner” means:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>In the case of a deposit, a depositor or a person entitled to receive the funds as reflected on the records of the bank or financial organization;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>In the case of a trust, a beneficiary;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>In the case of other choses in action, a creditor, claimant, or payee;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>In the case of abandoned property in federal custody, the person who is defined as the owner by any applicable federal law;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>Any person who has a legal or equitable interest in property subject to this title, or the legal representative of that person; or</text>
    </level>
    <level label="6">
      <text>In the case of a pension account or retirement account that qualifies for tax deferral under the income tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, the payee.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="p">
    <text>“Person” includes the State, any county, municipal corporation, or other political subdivision of the State, or any of their units, an individual, business association, corporation, business trust, statutory trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="q">
    <text>“Personal property” does not include:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>A gift certificate or a gift card;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Credits in connection with the sale of consumer goods to a wholesaler or retailer in the ordinary course of business;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Outstanding checks or credits issued to vendors or commercial customers in the ordinary course of business, other than property described in § 17–301.1(a) of this title held by a banking organization or financial organization;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>Credit balances in vendor or commercial customer accounts that occur in the ordinary course of business, other than property described in § 17–301.1(a) of this title held by a banking organization or financial organization; or</text>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>Purchase price rebates issued to customers in the ordinary course of business.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="r">
    <text>“Record” means information that is:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Inscribed on a tangible medium; or</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in perceivable form.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="s">
    <text>“Service charge” means any type of deduction or charge made by a holder on property presumed abandoned under this title.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="t">
    <text>“Utility” means any person who owns or operates in the State, for public use, any plant, equipment, property, franchise, or license for the transmission of communications, for the production, storage, transmission, sale, delivery, or furnishing of electricity, water, steam, or gas, or for the transportation of persons or property.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="u">
    <level label="1">
      <text>“Virtual currency” means a digital representation of value used as a medium of exchange, unit of account, or store of value that does not have legal tender status recognized by the United States.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>“Virtual currency” does not include:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>The software or protocols governing the transfer of the digital representation of value;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Game–related digital content; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>A loyalty card.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
