Nearly one in five Florida residents have unclaimed property or money sitting in accounts, said the state’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis in a release Tuesday.
He said the Florida Division of Unclaimed property returned $313 million worth of money and property over the last 12 months, which is the highest amount ever returned in a single year.
“I am impressed with the incredible accomplishments of the unclaimed property program, and I look forward to its continued success in the future,” Patronis said in a release. “It’s easier than it might seem to lose track of an account, and I want all Floridians to know that we’re working to return their hard-earned funds back to them.”
Unclaimed money could be left in dormant banks accounts, or as balances on insurance policies or utility accounts. Unclaimed goods like jewelry and coins might be left in abandoned safe deposit boxes.
By law, most businesses are required to turn over dormant or abandoned accounts to the Division after a specified time period of no communication with the account holder.
More than 513,000 claims were paid out over the last year, and about 5 million of them have been paid since the program's inception in 1961. Patronis said he encourages all to regularly search for accounts on the Division’s website or call 1-88-VALUABLE.
Photo: "Money" used under Creative Commons license.
Lindsey Kilbride can be reached at lkilbride@wjct.org, 904-358-6359 or on Twitter at @lindskilbride.
