In times like these- with the dollar down and the the U.S. economy in dreary condition, you would think Americans would keep close tabs on every cent they had. Judging by the amount of unclaimed money in the State of Florida right now however, millions of residents are actually missing money and I bet most of them don't even know it. A perfect example would be the tens of thousands of Tampa Bay residents that have yet to claim tax refund checks worth $300 each this year. A St. Petersburg Times report says the IRS identified 21,000, 18,000 and 9,500 senior citizens and veterans in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco (respectively) that have unclaimed tax refunds in their names.
Alex Sink, Chief Finance Officer for the Sunshine State recently announced there are almost 3 billion dollars in unclaimed money for Florida residents and their relatives. The lost funds belong to roughly 8 million residents who have somehow lost track of financial assets like savings accounts, tax refunds, insurance and pension benefits, safe deposit box contents, stocks and bonds. In fact, a recent news report out of FL's Martin County lists quite a few people being owed the latter by the County Circuit Court's accounting department. A certain Victor Diaz has $1,000 from a bond refund check in his name as do a Julia Hinds and Mark Landing Apartments Ltd. ($123 and $1,214.40, respectively). If theirs and hundreds more unclaimed checks from 2006 ranging from petty amounts to $2,000 aren't collected by September 1, 2008, these will be turned-over to the State.
Escheat laws dictate that establishments like banks and insurance companies turn over such assets to the government after a period of 3-5 years depending on the item. It then becomes the responsibility of the Florida Treasury Department's Unclaimed Property Division to reunite as much of the found money to its rightful owners. Each year they do reunite around 200,000 people on the Florida unclaimed money list with their unclaimed funds, but there's still a lot left waiting to be stuffed into the pockets of their rightful owners.
Unclaimed property also includes abandoned safe deposit box contents and these are auctioned-off each year to make way for incoming items. The Florida Unclaimed Property Division recently held this year's auction- raising almost a million dollars in Florida unclaimed money from the items. According to the North Country Gazette, over $925,000 worth of various items like silver bars, gold coins, jewelry and valuable antiques were sold-off by the Division.“I am thankful to the Floridians who bid on the wonderful items up for auction and the members of our Bureau who worked so hard to make this event a success,” says Sink in the report adding “Not only did we raise a record-breaking $925,550 for Florida school children, we also raised awareness about our mission of reuniting Floridians with their unclaimed property.” Proceeds from the abandoned items can still be claimed by the rightful owners.
If you or a relative is a resident of the Sunshine State, doing a search for FL unclaimed money would be a great idea. A a portion of the unclaimed money pile could actually be for you as no one really knows who turns up on the list. A recent report by Jacksonville-based News4Jax says former Gov. Jeb Bush, actorys Burt Reynolds and Wesley Snipes, Alonzo Mourning of the Heat, the Allman Brothers guitarist Dickey Betts, football great Joe Namath, Olli Jokinen of the Panthers and Terry "Hulk" Hogan are all owed unclaimed funds from Florida unclaimed property. The State also auctions-off unclaimed property items annually in public areas- last time it was at the Grand Hyatt Tampa. Might be worth looking into if you're looking for lost family heirlooms or bargains on antiques. Or you can get cold cash by doing a search for unclaimed money in Florida now!
