On Wednesday, Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis announced that the Division of Unclaimed Property recovered a record amount in the 2019-20 fiscal year which ended on Tuesday.
Patronis announced that the division recovered more than $328 million, up $6 million from the 2018-19 fiscal year.
“Since I took office in 2017, our Division of Unclaimed Property has returned more than $971 million back to Floridians, and I’m thrilled that we are on track to reach $1 billion very soon! This past year has been a challenge, as our staff has been teleworking for much of it. Despite these challenges, I’m extremely pleased that the Division persevered and was able to break the annual record and return a significant amount of money back to Floridians. As COVID-19 continues to impact our communities, this money is critical to helping Florida’s economy. I encourage all Floridians to search now for unclaimed property at FLTreasureHunt.gov,” Patronis said on Wednesday.
“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,” the CFO’s office noted.
After serving in the Florida House and on the Public Service Commission, Patronis was named to the CFO post by then Gov. Rick Scott when Jeff Atwater resigned the post to work for Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Patronis was elected in his own right in 2018 when he beat former state Sen. Jeremy Ring.
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
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