Blaise Ingoglia boasts of record $58M in unclaimed assets returned to Floridians in September

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer^[1] is touting a record-breaking $58 million that his office returned to residents in September.

CFO Blaise Ingoglia announced that last month’s total is more than any other month in Florida history.

The money is part of the Florida Treasure Hunt program^[2]. State data shows that 1 in 5 Floridians have unclaimed funds. The program invites residents to search for those assets on its website. Those claims^[3] can be filed for individual persons or for a business that might have wayward assets.

“From forgotten bank accounts and insurance payments to utility deposits and stock dividends, we’re working every day to reunite hardworking taxpayers, families, and small businesses with the money they have earned,” Ingoglia said in a news release this week. “In the month of September alone, our dedicated unclaimed property team returned a record $58 million back to the pockets of Floridians.”

The state makes it fairly easy to find unclaimed assets, especially for individuals. The CFO’s website database simply asks for your first and last name, along with the city of the person seeking the property claims. A simple online click initiates the search.

For businesses, the search only requests the name of the business and city where it operates.

Unclaimed assets can include dormant bank accounts, insurance proceeds, uncashed checks, deposits, credit balances and content in abandoned safe deposit boxes at financial institutions.

Those assets are usually resting in holdings at businesses or government entities for a limited time of about five years. If the assets aren’t claimed, that money is remitted to the Division of Unclaimed Property in the Florida Department of Financial Services^[4].