TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — From abandoned safe deposit boxes, stocks to uncashed checks, millions of dollars in financial assets owned by Floridians sit dormant.
The Florida Department of Financial Services has a platform to return those assets to citizens.
The state’s office of financial services announced Thursday that more than $30 million in unclaimed property was returned to residents in January.
If an individual wants to begin the process of reclaiming property, go to the website www.fltreasurehunt.gov and select start your search.
After selecting search, individuals are directed to a webpage where you input either an individual’s information or a business’ information.
The Florida Office of Financial Services reported $475,300 in property was claimed by citizens in the Tallahassee region last month.
The Miami region led the state with $7.97 million in assets claimed by Floridians in January.
Orlando ($5.98 million), Tampa/St. Petersburg region ($5.97 million), Jacksonville ($4.24 million), West Palm Beach ($3.85 million), Fort Myers/Naples region ($1.1 million), Pensacola ($581,900), Panama City ($487,400) and Gainesville ($295,000) rounded out the remainder of the top regions in the state to claim property last month.
According to the office of financial services, 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.
During the current fiscal year, more than $231 million in unclaimed property has been claimed by Floridians.
Since 2017, the when current office of financial services CFO Jimmy Patronis took over, the department has returned more than $1.5 billion in unclaimed property.
