I was recently called by a former homeowner in Miami Dade County. He was extremely frantic as he told me there was over $120,000.00 in surplus funds that he wanted to collect. I looked into his case and couldn’t believe what I saw.
A third party purchaser had won the auction at the HOA foreclosure sale. After about a month, the third-party realized there was still a superior lien on the property, the first mortgage. Upset, the third-party purchaser filed a motion to vacate the sale because of buyer’s remorse. The former owner hired an attorney to represent him in collecting the surplus funds as well as defending the motion to vacate the sale.
To get a motion to vacate granted, there are certain criteria that must be met. Buying a property that you didn’t run a title search should not be a legal reason to vacate a sale. Period. It simply does not meet the legal standard required in Florida.
Worse, the judge ordered the HOA to get paid its judgment, and attorney’s fees and then ORDERED THE REST OF THE MONEY TO GO BACK TO THE THIRD PARTY PURCHASER! (emphasis added obviously). This is absolutely insane. Yet, the motion for rehearing was denied.
Now, the owner, that SHOULD have collected over $120,000 in surplus, gets nothing at all. $0. Devastating.
The point of me writing this specific blog is this, hire a skilled Florida foreclosure surplus funds collection lawyer. The most common misconception I see in surplus funds cases is that people think it’s easy and straight forward. It’s not. The people who think this way often end up with nothing, because they a) assign away their rights to a surplus recovery company; b) hire a lawyer who is clueless; or c) try to handle it themselves.
Call me today for a free consultation. I will not make you pay anything upfront. In fact, I only get paid if I win your case AND collect the surplus funds money from the court.
If you need a foreclosure surplus attorney, we will represent parties in any county in the state of Florida!