This week, state Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis announced more than $349 million in unclaimed property was returned to Floridians during the 2020-21 fiscal year, which is $21 million more than the 2019-20 fiscal year.
Since Patronis took office in 2017, more than $1.3 billion has been returned to Floridians in unclaimed property.
“As your CFO, I’ve made it my mission to return every last cent of unclaimed property back to its rightful owners and I’m excited to announce that this fiscal year, we broke another record, and returned more than $349 million in unclaimed property to Floridians. I am also proud to share that in the month of June, we returned more than $23 million in unclaimed property back to the pockets of Floridians. There’s a good chance that we’re currently holding unclaimed funds for you or a loved one, as an estimated one in five Floridians has money just waiting to be claimed. It takes a only few minutes to search and I encourage all individuals and business owners to search now at FLTreasureHunt.gov,” Patronis said on Monday.
Unclaimed Property is a financial asset that is unknown or lost, or has been left inactive, unclaimed or abandoned by its owner. The most common types of unclaimed property are dormant bank accounts, unclaimed insurance proceeds, stocks, dividends, uncashed checks, deposits, credit balances and refunds.
Unclaimed property also includes contents from abandoned safe deposit boxes in financial institutions. Unclaimed property assets are held by business or government entities (holders) for a set period of time, usually five years. If the holder is unable to locate, re-establish contact with the owner and return the asset, it is reported and remitted to the Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Unclaimed Property.
Unclaimed Property Returns by Region for Fiscal Year 2020-21
- Pensacola – $7.2 million
- Panama City – $4.4 million
- Tallahassee – $13.2 million
- Jacksonville – $20.6 million
- Gainesville – $4.8 million
- Orlando – $58.8 million
- Tampa/St. Pete – $74.5 million
- Fort Myers/Naples – $17.8 million
- West Palm Beach – $46.6 million
- Miami – $101.3 million
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