| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to a review under the Open Government |
| 3 | Sunset Review Act regarding reports of unclaimed property; |
| 4 | amending s. 717.117, F.S., which provides an exemption |
| 5 | from public records requirements for social security |
| 6 | numbers and financial account numbers contained in reports |
| 7 | of unclaimed property held by the Department of Financial |
| 8 | Services; expanding the exemption to include property |
| 9 | identifiers; defining "property identifier"; reorganizing |
| 10 | the exemption; providing for future review and repeal of |
| 11 | the exemption; providing a statement of public necessity; |
| 12 | providing an effective date. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Section 1. Subsection (8) of section 717.117, Florida |
| 17 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 18 | 717.117 Report of unclaimed property.-- |
| 19 | (8)(a) For purposes of this subsection, "property |
| 20 | identifier" means the descriptor used by the holder to identify |
| 21 | the unclaimed property. |
| 22 | (b) Social security numbers and property identifiers |
| 23 | financial account numbers contained in reports required under |
| 24 | this section, held by the department, are confidential and |
| 25 | exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State |
| 26 | Constitution. |
| 27 | (c) Notwithstanding this exemption, Social security |
| 28 | numbers shall be released, for the limited purpose of locating |
| 29 | owners of abandoned or unclaimed property, to a person |
| 30 | registered with the department under this chapter who is: |
| 31 | 1. An attorney;, |
| 32 | 2. A Florida-certified public accountant;, |
| 33 | 3. A private investigator who is duly licensed in this |
| 34 | state;, or |
| 35 | 4. A private investigative agency licensed under chapter |
| 36 | 493 and registered with the department under this chapter. |
| 37 | (d) This exemption applies to social security numbers and |
| 38 | property identifiers financial account numbers held by the |
| 39 | department before, on, or after the effective date of this |
| 40 | exemption. |
| 41 | (e) This subsection is subject to the Open Government |
| 42 | Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s. 119.15, and |
| 43 | shall stand repealed October 2, 2012 2007, unless reviewed and |
| 44 | saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. |
| 45 | Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public |
| 46 | necessity that property identifiers contained in reports of |
| 47 | unclaimed property held by the Department of Financial Services |
| 48 | be made confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida |
| 49 | Statutes, and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. |
| 50 | Property identifiers, which are descriptors used by a holder to |
| 51 | identify unclaimed property, could be used to obtain |
| 52 | fraudulently unclaimed funds or property. Protection of property |
| 53 | identifiers is a public necessity in order to prevent the |
| 54 | fraudulent use of such information for purposes of creating |
| 55 | falsified or forged documents that demonstrate entitlement to |
| 56 | unclaimed property. Such use defrauds the rightful property |
| 57 | owner or the State School Fund. Furthermore, the release of |
| 58 | property identifiers contained in reports of unclaimed property |
| 59 | hinders the effective and efficient administration of the |
| 60 | unclaimed property program. |
| 61 | Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2007. |