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Unclaimed Treasure May Be Waiting for You

May 4th, 2020 by Mike Vasilinda

If you sitting around bored as the stay at home order begins to ease, you might think about searching for treasure.

Not buried treasure, but unclaimed property being held by the state.

After accounts have been inactive for seven years, state law requires banks and others to turn over the unclaimed assets to the state.

The state reports it’s holding property for one in five Floridians.

“And I just put in my name and started searching,” said Radio Personality Shane Collins.

Collins got bored during the pandemic, searched fltreasurehunt.gov on a lark, and hit the jackpot.

“And literally, I don’t mind telling you, thousands of dollars in my name that I had no clue about. If I had not searched that website, I would not have found that money,” said Collins.

Along with individuals, 1.3 million businesses have unclaimed property totaling almost half a billion dollars.

“I put in my name. My first name, my middle initial. And then I did it with my middle initial and my last name, and it pulled up different accounts all across the state of Florida where I had worked in broadcasting. Or where I had lived, made business transactions,” said Collins.

Collins says the good fortune couldn’t have come at a better time.

“I couldn’t believe the amount of money that was sitting in the state for years. The state fund for years. An d now it’s coming back to me and my family at the perfect time. We are so grateful,” said Collins.

The real property ends up in a vault in the state capital.

It’s usually auctioned in the Spring, but this year’s auction has been delayed until Fall.

And fear not, if the state has already sold your treasure, you’re still entitled to the money that it brought in.

The proceeds from any property or cash not claimed goes into the state education fund.

And there is more good news.

You never lose the ability to claim what’s rightfully yours, even decades later.

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