Frequently Asked Questions

Each state has laws that require financial institutions to turn over abandoned property to the state. The process of turning over abandoned property to the states is called escheatment.

Depending upon the state in which your account is registered, abandoned property may be defined as one or more of the following categories:

• Inactivity Only – The account is considered abandoned if there is no contact on the account during the timeframe, or dormancy period, established by the state.

• Returned Post Office (RPO) Only – The account is considered abandoned solely because the address on the account has been deemed undeliverable by the United States Postal Service.

• Returned Post Office (RPO) and Inactivity – The account is considered abandoned because there has been no contact made on the account AND the address has been deemed undeliverable by the United States Postal Service.

• Returned Post Office (RPO) or Inactivity – The account is considered abandoned because there has been no contact made on the account OR the address has been deemed undeliverable by the United States Postal Service.

The state in which your account is registered is usually the state in which you live, unless you used another address when establishing the account.

In 2013, states adopted inactivity, or "no contact," regulations. These regulations require account owners, including mutual fund shareholders, to make contact with their fund companies on a regular basis. What constitutes contact and how frequently the contact must occur varies depending upon the state in which the account is registered and the type of assets or type of account. Generally, property is considered abandoned after a period of 3 to 5 years of inactivity or "no contact." For a list of state specific dormancy periods and categories of abandoned property, click here.

If you have questions about when your account may be considered to be abandoned property or for further information on your state's specific abandoned property and escheatment laws, click here. You can also contact one of our Shareholder Services Representatives at 800-422-1050, Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Eastern time.

The SECURE Act of 2020 adjusted the age of which retirement plan participants need to take required minimum distributions (“RMDs”) from 70½ to 72. Further, the SECURE Act modified the Internal Revenue Code definition of a retirement account beneficiary as well as the distribution rules a beneficiary must follow when distributing assets from an inherited retirement account. This in turn impacts when a retirement account is deemed abandoned under each state’s respective unclaimed property laws. It is important to note that the RMD revision does not impact the escheat ability of an IRA owned by a person who reached age 70½ in 2019.

The SECURE Act 2.0 of 2022 adjusted the age which retirement plan participants need to take RMDs from 72 to 73 beginning in 2023. It is important to note that the RMD revision does not impact the escheat ability of an IRA owner who reached age 72 in 2022.

Please see your State Treasurer's website for more information regarding state abandoned or unclaimed property laws.

Abandoned property accounts with foreign registrations are required to be turned over to the state where the mutual fund is organized. Harbor Funds is organized as a Delaware statutory trust. If you have a foreign registration on your account, and you received an escheatment notice from Harbor Funds, it will be subject to escheatment under the requirements of the state of Delaware.

Any of the following actions are considered contact or activity on your account: 

• Log in to your Harbor Funds account online at harborcapital.com.
• Contact one of our Shareholder Services Representatives at 800-422-1050 Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Eastern time.
• Write to us at:
  Harbor Funds
  P.O. Box 804660
  Chicago, IL 60680-4108 

If you only want to make contact for your account, you can simply write a letter requesting that Harbor make a note on your account that contact has been made. 

If you want to update your address or perform other maintenance on your account, sign, date, and reference your account number on any of Harbor's account maintenance forms. This activity will be considered contact. If you are changing your address, please note that a request to redeem shares within 10 business days of the address change requires a letter of instruction with a Medallion Signature Guarantee.

Unfortunately, state regulations do not consider automatic investment or redemption plans to count as contact on your account. If this is your only investment activity, you will need to establish contact by one of the methods described above.

If you do not contact us within the time period specified in the state in which your account is registered, we may be required to escheat your account(s) and turn your financial assets over to the state of your account registration. 

We will do everything we can to get in contact with you before sending your funds to the state including sending letters and contacting you by phone.

The easiest way to maintain contact with Harbor Funds is to access your account(s) online by logging in to your account(s) through Harbor Funds' website annually or by speaking to a Shareholder Services Representative by calling 800-422-1050 Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Eastern time. 

To sign in to your account, click here.

You can prevent your account from being eligible for escheatment by maintaining an up-to-date address of record with Harbor Funds and by keeping your Harbor Funds account(s) active by initiating contact with us at least annually by: 

• Accessing your account through Harbor Funds' secure website.
• Calling 800-422-1050 and speaking to a Shareholder Services Representative.
• Sending correspondence to us about your account(s).
• Conducting non-systematic trading in your account(s).

Please note: Depending on your State's unclaimed property laws, you may have the ability to add a designated representative to your account. This could help avoid being subject to your respective State's escheatment process. Please see your State Treasurer's website for more information regarding state abandoned or unclaimed property laws.

If your account is escheated, your account will have a zero balance as of the date of escheatment. In order to re-claim your funds, you will have to contact the state to which the account was escheated and request that the funds be returned to you. Generally, the remittance of non-retirement assets is non-taxable to the shareholder. However, the remittance of retirement assets may incur federal and/or state withholding in addition to an early withdrawal penalty if applicable. For further information on reclaiming your property, please click here and then click on your registration state.

Please see your State Treasurer's website for more information regarding state abandoned, or unclaimed, property laws.