You don’t have to be a pirate to go on a modern-day treasure hunt in Florida. For many Floridians, state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis has your booty.
In a recent press release, Patronis announced that more than $30 million in unclaimed property was returned to Floridians during the month of March 2021.
Patronis noted that since he took office in 2018, more than $1.2 billion has been returned to Floridians as unclaimed property.
“Since becoming your CFO, I made it my mission to return every cent of unclaimed property to the rightful owners and I’m especially proud that, since the COVID-19 pandemic began over a year ago, we have recovered and returned more than $379 million, more than any other 13-month period in the program’s 60-year history,” Patronis said in a statement.
“There’s an estimated one in five chance that you have money just waiting to be claimed. It only takes a few minutes to search for unclaimed property and I encourage individuals and business owners to search right now at FLTreasureHunt.gov.”
Patronis’s department defines unclaimed property as a financial asset that is unknown or lost or has been left inactive, unclaimed or abandoned by its owner.
Among the most common types of unclaimed property are dormant bank accounts, unclaimed insurance proceeds, stocks, dividends, uncashed checks, deposits, credit balances, and refunds.
Such property also includes contents from abandoned safe deposit boxes in financial institutions. Businesses or government agencies typically hold on to these assets for five years. If they cannot find or contact the owner and return the goods, the assets are reported and turned over to the Florida Department of Financial Services, through the Division of Unclaimed Property.
Those who want to search for unclaimed property or claim an account can visit FLTreasureHunt.gov.
According to Patronis’s office, recipients in the Miami area picked up the bulk of the assets, claiming $9.4 million. That was followed by the Tampa Bay region, with $5.6 million, Orlando at $4.6 million, and West Palm Beach, $4.4 million.
Other areas cited by Patronis included Fort Myers-Naples ($2 million); Jacksonville, $1.7 million; Tallahassee, $746,680; Gainesville, $733,910; Pensacola, $626,540 and Panama City, $268,330.
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