SOLD! CFO SINK’S UNCLAIMED PROPERTY AUCTION NETS RECORD $1.24 MILLION

TALLAHASSEE, FL – October 27, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — Florida CFO Alex Sink’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property continued its record-setting pace this weekend by netting over $1.24 million at the annual Unclaimed Property Auction held Saturday in Ft. Lauderdale. This is the most ever garnered by Florida’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property at the annual auction. CFO Sink’s push in the week leading up to the Unclaimed Property Auction also helped return to people a staggering $7.23M through over 20,000 accounts in just seven days.

“Our unclaimed property team has a business-like attitude to returning Floridians’ money and holding our annual auction, with record-setting results,” said CFO Sink, who guest auctioneered the start of the auction. “Our diligent and proactive approach to seeking out owners and responding to citizens has put more money back into the hands of its rightful owners— Florida citizens.”

Saturday’s Unclaimed Property Auction consisted of almost 40,000 items that were the contents of unclaimed safe deposit boxes, with the reserve prices totaling approximately $500,000. After multiple attempts to find the owners of this property, the items were auctioned off, but the rightful owners are still able to claim the value the item is sold for in cash. There is no statute of limitations, and citizens have the right to claim their property any time at no cost at www.FLTreasurehunt.org.

During Alex Sink’s tenure as CFO, the Bureau of Unclaimed Property has seen record returns, reuniting owners, heirs and businesses with more than one-third of all money returned since the beginning of the program, due largely to aggressive efforts to contact owners. CFO Sink’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property returned $173 million in unclaimed property for the 2008-2009 Fiscal Year — the largest amount in state history. Since the program’s inception 48 years ago, the Bureau of Unclaimed Property has successfully reunited owners or relatives of deceased owners with more than $1.4 billion in unclaimed property held in Florida.

The Bureau of Unclaimed Property is still currently holding about 8.8 million accounts, mostly from dormant accounts in financial institutions, unclaimed utility deposits, insurance benefits, premium refunds, uncashed checks and trust accounts. It also holds watches, jewelry, coins, stamps and historical items from abandoned safe deposit boxes. Unclaimed property can be claimed for free at any time by the rightful owners or heirs by logging on to www.FLTreasureHunt.org or by calling the Bureau at 1-88-VALUABLE.

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As a statewide elected officer of the Florida Cabinet, CFO Alex Sink oversees the Department of Financial Services. A successful businesswoman with nearly three decades of experience in the private sector, Sink is serving her first term as Florida’s CFO. As CFO, Sink’s priorities include using her business experience to cut wasteful government spending, cracking down on financial and insurance fraud and reforming the state government’s contracting practices

CONTACT: Kyra Jennings or Kevin Cate, (850) 413-2842