It is happening all over the State of Florida, that is, third-party purchasers trying to claim left over surplus funds. The question is, is this legal in the State of Florida?
Before I get into the legality of the above topic, I want to discuss one main reason it is important to seek your own foreclosure surplus lawyer. Foreclosure surplus law is a niche area of law. Many times, I must properly educate the court on specific issues because the court is unaware about specific aspects of foreclosure surplus law. Further, many times the judges will decide the law on what they feel is just, rather than what Florida Statute and case law presents. The following case is a perfect example . . .
On February 15, 2017, a decision in the Third District Court of Appeal was made. Specifically, the case is All Counties Surplus LLC, v. Flamingo South Beach I Condominium Association, Inc. 2017 WL 621258.
In this case, a foreclosure sale took place and the third-party purchaser made a claim to the surplus funds, so did the former homeowners. However, these former homeowners assigned their rights to a surplus recovery company, specifically, All Counties Surplus LLC. This was problematic for many reasons, but read my three part series as to why you should pick a foreclosure surplus lawyer over an asset recovery company.
During an evidentiary hearing regarding the excess funds, the trial court ordered that “any funds in excess of the Association’s judgment . . . are to be returned to the third-party purchasers as a return of monies in excess of the Judgment to the original owners would be inequitable and unjust.”
The appellate court ended up reversing the court’s decision confirming that a third party is not entitled to any surplus funds under case law and Florida Statute. However, this could have ALL been avoided had the owners of the property hired a Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer of their own. An appeal is a lengthy and expensive process that could have been avoided in this case. Further, if the money had already been disbursed, it would be nearly impossible to get those funds returned to the court.
Two points from this case: 1) Hiring an experienced foreclosure surplus lawyer can avoid problems like this from arising, and 2) third party purchasers are not entitled to foreclosure surplus funds. Choose your own Florida foreclosure surplus lawyer. Don’t let a surplus company pick your lawyer for you.
If you need a Miami Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer, Fort Lauderdale Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer, Palm Beach Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer, Orlando Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer, Tampa Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer, Fort Myers Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer, Sarasota Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer, Pasco County Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer, Lake County Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer, Lakeland Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer, Lee County Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer, Broward Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer, Palm Beach Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer, Miami-Dade Foreclosure Surplus Attorney, or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Surplus Lawyer, Haynes Law Group will represent a homeowner in any county in Florida!