Frequently Asked Questions

When a homeowner is unable to keep up with their home mortgage payments, or pay the taxes owed on the property, the homeowner may lose their home through the process of a tax sale, sheriff's sale, or a mortgage foreclosure sale. These homes are sold to bidders in public auctions in order to pay off the owed debt. 

When a foreclosed property is sold at auction, the highest bidders sale price may generate more money than what was required to pay off the owed debt, which results in a balance of surplus funds.

The mortgage lender, or the county in which the property was sold, are not legally allowed to keep any money exceeding what was owed to them unless the funds remain unclaimed for a certain period of time, which varies from months to years according to the laws of the specific location. Therefore, the funds will be held by the county until expiration of the tax sale overage holding period. If the surplus funds go unclaimed by the rightfully owning parties when this period expires, the funds become the property of the lender or the county. 

Prior to expiration of the holding period, the surplus funds may be claimed by either the person who owned the property at the time of the foreclosure sale, the owner of any security deeds that affect the property, or any other party with a lien or recorded equity interest in the property. Do not let the government keep your money because it went unclaimed for too long! These surplus funds belong to you!

In the event of surplus funds being owed to someone who has since passed away, direct relatives or descendants of the former property owner may now inherit the superior rights to recover those funds on their deceased relatives behalf. 

There are various factors that can affect the timeline to recover your surplus funds. The typical claim can be resolved in anywhere from 30-120 days depending on the complexity of the claim, while other scenarios may result in longer timelines. 

The quickest claim recoveries occur when the previous property owner is still living, and was the sole owner of the property. Death of the previous owner, shared ownership of the property, bankruptcy estates, unresolved liens against the property, or competing claims for the funds can all lead to delays in the final processing. Therefore, it is best to start your claim process as soon as possible! 

If the previous property owner is deceased and an heir is claiming the funds on their behalf, opening a formal probate estate may be required before any excess proceeds can be claimed, which can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months to complete. 

If there were multiple owners on the property at the time of sale, each owner named on the deed will be entitled to claim a portion of the surplus funds. Therefore, multiple claims may be submitted, and multiple lien searches may be required. The county or trustee in question dictates the ability of interested parties to claim disbursement of their respective portion of the surplus funds. 

If there is an open bankruptcy estate, the surplus funds will typically be paid into that bankruptcy estate. However, the bankruptcy must be discharged to release the debtor from any debts or obligations prior to the funds being claimed, resulting in a longer process to claim the funds. 

If there are valid liens, which is a legal claim or right against an asset, on the subject property, then disbursement of the surplus funds can not occur until the liens are resolved. This requires searching to find the open liens, and requesting and/or negotiating balance payoffs, which extend the timeline. 

If there are competing claims for the surplus funds, the trustee may interplead any excess funds, meaning the funds are transferred into a court registry, which then requires a judge to order distribution of the funds. This process of going through the courts can lead to delays in the claim payout. 

We locate and obtain disbursement of these surplus funds that are owed to YOU following a property tax sale. We work with the various county governments and trustees to review and confirm the property records to determine the amount of surplus funds available, and perform the legal process of filing your funds recovery claim and recover the surplus funds. 

All you have to do is sit back, and wait for the surplus funds payment to arrive!

Nothing! We work on a contingency fee basis, which means that we only collect a fee from the funds that are disbursed, and if you don't get paid, we don't either. Contact us now to schedule a consultation to start the review of your claim.