Chief Financial Officer Patronis returns over $33 million in unclaimed property to residents

By Michael Costeines

Published Apr. 3, 2024, 11:45 a.m. ET | Updated Apr. 3, 2024

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis delivers Hurricane Idalia update in Wildwood, Fla., Aug. 29, 2023. (Video/Gov. Ron DeSantis' office)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Chief Financial Office Jimmy Patronis announced Wednesday the return of more than $33 million in unclaimed property to Florida residents during March.

“I’m so proud of the hard work of Florida’s unclaimed property team who returned more than $33 million in unclaimed property to Floridians in March,” Patronis said. “As your CFO, I want every cent of unclaimed property to be returned to its rightful owner as quickly as possible.”

Unclaimed property is a “financial asset that is unknown or lost or has been left inactive, unclaimed, or abandoned by its owner,” Patronis’ office said.

Common types of unclaimed property include dormant bank accounts, unclaimed insurance proceeds, stocks, dividends, uncashed checks, deposits, credit card balances and refunds.

In addition, unclaimed property may include contents from abandoned safe deposit boxes in financial institutions. The asset also can be held by a business or government entity for approximately five years.

If the holder is unable to locate or re-establish contact with the owner, the asset can be reported and remitted to the Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Unclaimed Property.

Miami, at $7.8 million, received the most return in unclaimed property by region for March. It was followed by Tampa/St. Petersburg at $7.9 million, Orlando at $5.9 million, West Palm Beach at $5.2 million, Jacksonville at $2 million, and Fort Myers/Naples at $1.9 million.

Other cities seeing a return included Pensacola with $909,000, Panama City with $785,000, Tallahassee with $636,000 and Gainesville with $253,000.

Since assuming office in 2017, Patronis has returned nearly $2.4 billion in unclaimed property to Florida citizens.

“An estimated one in five Floridians has unclaimed property just waiting to be claimed,” Patronis said. “That’s why I encourage every Floridian to search now for yourself, your friends, your loved ones, and even your business at FLTreasureHunt.gov. Don’t wait, start your treasure hunt today!”