Starting October 1, a Maryland Bank Can Sit on Your Own Withdrawal for 25 Business Days

If you are 65 or older and you bank in Maryland, a rule changes under you on October 1. Your bank gets to decide that a withdrawal you asked for looks like someone is taking you for a ride, and hold it. Up to 25 business days. About five calendar weeks.

You did not do anything to trigger this. You had a birthday.

The Vulnerable Adult Banking Protection Act, Chapter 511 of this year, lets a bank or credit union delay a disbursement when it reasonably believes the money is headed into financial exploitation. To use the power, it has to do two things: give you written notice of the reason within four business days, and report the suspicion to Adult Protective Services, a law enforcement agency, or the State’s Attorney.

Then the clock. The hold expires when the institution clears you, or at 15 business days, whichever lands first. APS or police can push it to 25 business days. And per the state’s own fiscal note, with no request and no court order, the bank may extend it to 25 business days anyway.

Here is the sentence to read twice. A fiduciary institution acting in good faith and exercising reasonable care has immunity from administrative and civil liability, for the notices and for the delay or denial. Your money, their judgment.

The problem it targets is not made up. FinCEN reviewed a year of Bank Secrecy Act filings ending June 15, 2023 and counted 155,415 reports of elder financial exploitation tied to roughly $27 billion in suspicious activity. About 80% of that was strangers running scams. The remaining 20% was theft by someone the victim knew, which is exactly why the law says the bank must not send the notice to a party it suspects. Sometimes the person who would read your mail is the problem.

So this is not dumb. It is a real fix with a real cost, and the cost is that a wire you needed on Friday can now be a wire you get in October. Whether that trade is worth it is your call. What is not your call is whether the power exists. On October 1, it does.

Three things this month. The first takes ten minutes.

Name a trusted contact at every bank and credit union you use. The statute builds the concept in: a family member, someone authorized to transact on the account, someone legally responsible for your finances, or a person you designate. A bank with a name and a phone number on file resolves a suspicion in a day. A bank with a blank field files a report and waits. If your institution has no trusted contact field, send the name in writing through secure message and keep the confirmation.

Second, call ahead on anything large or unusual. Buying a car with cash, paying a contractor, moving money to a new account, helping a grandchild. Tell the branch before the transaction, not after. You are giving them the story so they do not have to invent one.

Third, stop keeping the entire cushion in one place. A hold at one institution should not be able to strand your rent. Splitting an emergency fund across two banks costs you nothing when both pay a competitive rate. Compare what you are actually earning against the current top payers in our savings hub and the best savings accounts list, and run the second account through the savings calculator so the split is not costing you yield.

If you are a Maryland adult child watching a parent’s accounts: this law is now your tool. Ask to be named the trusted contact while your parent is the one making the call.

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