Last week, Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis announced that his Division of Unclaimed Property posted the second-highest monthly amount of unclaimed funds ever recovered and returned to Floridians in the program’s 59-year history.
Last month, claims payments totaled more than $39.6 million, almost eclipsing the highest-ever month, which was July 2020, when a record $42.9 million was returned in a single month. Since Patronis took office more than $1 billion has been returned to Floridians in Unclaimed Property.
“My Division of Unclaimed Property has been steadfast in their commitment to return as much money as possible back to Floridians in 2020, and I’m extremely pleased that in the past two months we have reached our two highest months ever in returns,” Patronis said on Thursday. “We have now returned more than $190 million since the COVID-19 pandemic began directly impacting the lives, jobs and businesses of Floridians in March. This news is critical as we are continuing to deal with the economic impacts of COVID-19, and as your CFO, I will do everything I can to financially help Floridians get through these tough times. I encourage all Floridians to search now for unclaimed property at FLTreasureHunt.gov.”
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.
To search for unclaimed property or to claim an account, go online to FLTreasureHunt.gov.
August 2020 Unclaimed Property Returns by Region
- Pensacola – $736,043
- Panama City – $305,973
- Tallahassee – $943,568
- Jacksonville – $1,500,356
- Gainesville – $228,526
- Orlando – $7,133,255
- Tampa/St. Pete – $6,826,687
- Fort Myers/Naples – $1,578,828
- West Palm Beach – $5,958,480
- Miami – $14,423,288
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