PRESS RELEASE
Jimmy Patronis
Florida’s Chief Financial Officer
April 15, 2021
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis announced that the 2021 Florida Unclaimed Property Online Auction will be held online for the first time in the program’s history. The auction, with registration opening, Friday, April 16th and bidding starting, Friday, April 23rd, is open to the public nationwide. Auction items were turned over to the CFO’s Division of Unclaimed Property after being recovered from abandoned safe deposit boxes. Featured items include collectible coins, gold coins, collectible currency, silver, gold, and miscellaneous items such as sports cards including Ken Griffey Jr. and Mickey Mantle.
CFO Jimmy Patronis said, “This Friday, I’m excited to kick off the 2021 Florida Unclaimed Property Online Auction – Florida’s first ever virtual unclaimed property auction! Every year, the Department of Financial Services auctions off thousands of items left abandoned and unclaimed in the State of Florida. The proceeds generated by this auction are used to help fund education in Florida and unclaimed property owners can still claim the value of these items at any time. Since taking office in 2017, I’m proud to have returned more than $1.2 billion in unclaimed property back to the pockets of Floridians. An estimated 1 in 5 Floridians has unclaimed property just waiting to be claimed. It only takes a few minutes to search to see if you, your family, or your business has Unclaimed Property in Florida. I’m encouraging all citizens, in Florida and throughout our country, to search now at FLTreasureHunt.gov.”
Registration for the 2021 Florida Online Unclaimed Property Auction begins on Friday, April 16th and bidding will begin on Friday, April 23rd. For more information and to register, click here.
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.
To search for unclaimed property or to claim an account, go online to www.FLTreasureHunt.gov.