The Florida Senate

717.101  Definitions.--As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1)  "Aggregate" means the amounts reported for owners of unclaimed property of less than $50 or where there is no name for the individual or entity listed on the holder's records, regardless of the amount to be reported.

(2)  "Apparent owner" means the person whose name appears on the records of the holder as the person entitled to property held, issued, or owing by the holder.

(3)  "Banking organization" means any state or national bank, international banking entity or similar entity, trust company, savings bank, industrial savings bank, land bank, safe-deposit company, private bank, or any organization otherwise defined by law as a bank or banking organization.

(4)  "Business association" means any corporation (other than a public corporation), joint stock company, investment company, business trust, partnership, or association for business purposes of two or more individuals, whether or not for profit, including a banking organization, financial organization, insurance company, dissolved pension plan, or utility.

(5)  "Credit balance" means an account balance in the customer's favor.

(6)  "Department" means the Department of Banking and Finance.

(7)  "Domicile" means the state of incorporation, in the case of a corporation incorporated under the laws of a state, and the state of the principal place of business, in the case of a person not incorporated under the laws of a state.

(8)  "Due diligence" means the use of reasonable and prudent methods under particular circumstances to locate apparent owners of inactive accounts using the taxpayer identification number or social security number, if known, which may include, but are not limited to, using a nationwide database, cross-indexing with other records of the holder, mailing to the last known address unless the last known address is known to be inaccurate, or engaging a licensed agency or company capable of conducting such search and providing updated addresses.

(9)  "Financial organization" means a state or federal savings association, savings and loan association, bank, trust company, international bank agency, cooperative bank, building and loan association, or credit union.

(10)  "Holder" means a person, wherever organized or domiciled, who is:

(a)  In possession of property belonging to another;

(b)  A trustee in case of a trust; or

(c)  Indebted to another on an obligation.

(11)  "Insurance company" means an association, corporation, or fraternal or mutual benefit organization, whether or not for profit, which is engaged in providing insurance coverage, including, by way of illustration and not limitation, accident, burial, casualty, credit life, contract performance, dental, fidelity, fire, health, hospitalization, illness, life (including endowments and annuities), malpractice, marine, mortgage, surety, and wage protection insurance.

(12)  "Intangible property" includes, by way of illustration and not limitation:

(a)  Moneys, checks, drafts, deposits, interest, dividends, and income.

(b)  Credit balances, customer overpayments, security deposits and other instruments as defined by chapter 679, refunds, unpaid wages, unused airline tickets, and unidentified remittances.

(c)  Stocks, and other intangible ownership interests in business associations.

(d)  Moneys deposited to redeem stocks, bonds, coupons, and other securities, or to make distributions.

(e)  Amounts due and payable under the terms of insurance policies.

(f)  Amounts distributable from a trust or custodial fund established under a plan to provide any health, welfare, pension, vacation, severance, retirement, death, stock purchase, profit sharing, employee savings, supplemental unemployment insurance, or similar benefit.

(13)  "Last known address" means a description of the location of the apparent owner sufficient for the purpose of the delivery of mail. For the purposes of identifying, reporting, and remitting property to the department which is presumed to be unclaimed, "last known address" includes any partial description of the location of the apparent owner sufficient to establish the apparent owner was a resident of this state at the time of last contact with the apparent owner or at the time the property became due and payable.

(14)  "Lawful charges" means charges against dormant accounts that are authorized by statute for the purpose of offsetting the costs of maintaining the dormant account.

(15)  "Owner" means a depositor in the case of a deposit, a beneficiary in case of a trust other than a deposit in trust, a claimant, or a payee in the case of other intangible property, or a person having a legal or equitable interest in property subject to this chapter or his or her legal representative.

(16)  "Public corporation" means a corporation created by the state, founded and owned in the public interest, supported by public funds, and governed by those deriving their power from the state.

(17)  "Reportable period" means the calendar year ending December 31 of each year.

(18)  "State," when applied to a part of the United States, includes any state, district, commonwealth, territory, insular possession, and any other area subject to the legislative authority of the United States.

(19)  "Utility" means a person who owns or operates, for public use, any plant, equipment, property, franchise, or license for the transmission of communications or the production, storage, transmission, sale, delivery, or furnishing of electricity, water, steam, or gas.

History.--s. 2, ch. 87-105; s. 23, ch. 91-110; s. 1, ch. 96-301; s. 1770, ch. 97-102; s. 1, ch. 2001-36.