Millions in cash unclaimed
State has $17 million for thousands in Lee
By jeff cull jcull@florida-weekly.com

Florida has $17 million in cash to give back to Lee County residents and businesses - all you have to do is ask the state for it.

A list of unclaimed property obtained by Florida Weekly shows more than 60,000 names in Lee County alone.

And nearly all of them don't know it.

Some are for small amounts - $30 or $40 from an old utility deposit or forgotten bank account. The biggest single unclaimed account in Lee County: $86,537. And there are more than 6,500 accounts for county residents valued at more than $500.

Local plastic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Lang had more than $300,000 sitting in 29 unclaimed accounts. When contacted by Florida Weekly, Lang said he didn't realize it was so much.

"I don't know why these accounts w e r e turned over to the state," he said. "I don't know why they can't find me. I haven't moved. I've been in the same office for 10 years."

Lang said the money was from stock holdings and bank accounts that had been merged into other banks. He contacted the state, received the forms via email and is well on his way to collecting.

"They were spectacularly helpful," Lang said of the people

in t h e B u r e a u of Unclaimed Property.

Florida is holding more than $1 billion mostly from unclaimed insurance benefits, utility deposits, dormant bank accounts or uncashed paychecks, said Rick Sweet, assistant bureau chief for unclaimed property, a division of the Florida Department of Financial Services. And the pot's been building for a long time.

"We're still paying claims from the 1960s," Sweet said.

But that money doesn't just sit in a vault. In fact, only about $15 million is ready cash, S w e e t said. The rest goes to the

P r i n - cipal State School Trust Fund to benefit education.

The education fund is expected to use $238 million from unclaimed property this year to pay for school operations, class size reduction, teacher recognition and reading programs.

Last year the state took in $354 million in unclaimed cash and paid a record $101 million to 225,000 people. This year it's on pace to return about $150 million, Sweet said. Most of the payments are in the $70 to $80

Read our related story  to see the names of accounts in Lee County worth more than $2,000. range but the average claim is about $800.

And it's easy to check. The state has a searchable Web site.

So don't pay one of the many private investigating firms, accountants or lawyers registered with the state to file claims on behalf of residents. They can charge up to 20 percent with a maximum of $1,000 per claim for a service the state offers for free.

To claim the money, a resident or business must prove they are the owner by producing verification and complete and return forms the state sends.

It can take up to 90 days to receive payment but claims are taking only about a month now. "But it varies with the time of year," Sweet said.

Click here to access Florida's unclaimed database