This week, Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis showcased his office’s efforts at returning unclaimed property to residents of the Sunshine State.
On Tuesday, Patronis said that the Division of Unclaimed Property returned almost $43 million to Floridians last month, a new record for the office. Patronis noted that more than $151 million has been returned to Floridians during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Since I took office in 2017, our Division of Unclaimed Property has returned more than $1.1 billion back to Floridians and in July we broke our monthly record and returned more than $42 million. This is another amazing milestone for our Unclaimed Property Team, especially since our staff has been teleworking since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Despite these recent challenges, I’m extremely pleased that the Division persevered and was able to break these records and return a significant amount of money back to the pockets of Floridians,” Patronis said on Tuesday.
“As COVID-19 continues to impact our communities, this money can be critical to helping Florida’s economy and especially our small businesses. An estimated one in five Floridians have unclaimed property just waiting to be claimed free of charge and I encourage all individuals and businesses to search now at FLTreasureHunt.gov,” Patronis added.
“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 (PSC), 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) back in 2017. 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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