Once a judgment of foreclosure is entered in Florida, a foreclosure auction date is set to sell the property. On that auction day, third parties and even the Plaintiff (the Bank) will make bids on the property.
Often, the Plaintiff will win the bid, meaning the Bank just takes the property back. Most of the time the Bank bids for less than what is owed on the Final Judgment. For example the Final Judgment says the Bank is owed $200,000 and the Bank will bid at $140,000 with no other bidders going higher. In this case, the Bank will not have to exchange any money with the Court. Again, this is what occurs 95% of the time.
Yet, there are times where the Bank will actually outbid the Final Judgment amount. For example, the Final Judgment is $200,000 and the Bank bids $250,000 and wins. In this case, does the Bank have to exchange money with the Court? The answer is absolutely yes.
In the last few months, I have come across foreclosure surplus cases that involve this exact situation. Yet, the Clerk doesn’t issue a Certificate of Disbursements because “the Bank bought it back and therefore there is no exchange of money.” This is false. If the Bank bids $250,000 and all that is owed was $200,000, there is an overage of $50,000. The Bank is not allowed to bid whatever amount they want and then only have to pay off the Final Judgment. That would not be an equitable bid.
I have therefore filed motions with the courts to issue a certificate of disbursement and also spoken with the Clerks to try and explain how the process above should work.
Retaining surplus funds is not as straight forward as people assume. I always suggest hiring a foreclosure surplus lawyer with a vast array of experience.
I will personally give you a free consultation. I also take all of my foreclosure surplus cases on contingency, which means I only get paid if I win for you!
Whether you need a Miami foreclosure surplus attorney, Fort Lauderdale foreclosure surplus funds attorney, Palm Beach foreclosure surplus attorney, Tampa foreclosure surplus funds lawyer, Pasco County foreclosure surplus funds attorney, Osceola County foreclosure surplus funds lawyer, Brevard County foreclosure surplus lawyer, Lake county foreclosure surplus lawyer, Duval County foreclosure surplus attorney, North Miami Beach foreclosure surplus attorney, Jacksonville foreclosure surplus attorney, Pinellas County foreclosure surplus lawyer, Sarasota foreclosure surplus attorney, Gainesville foreclosure surplus lawyer, Fort Myers foreclosure surplus attorney, Indian hills County foreclosure surplus lawyer, Orlando foreclosure surplus attorney, or Orange county foreclosure surplus lawyer we will represent parties in any county in the state of Florida!