So, your property was just sold at a Florida foreclosure auction and you want to know if there are surplus funds available to be claimed. Allow me to explain how you can determine if there are surplus funds available after the recent foreclosure sale of your home.
First, let’s talk about what causes a surplus of funds. When a property is sold at a foreclosure auction, there is often a “bidding war” between the Plaintiff (from a foreclosure case) and Investors (who are looking to make a profit by purchasing a property at a price lower than market value). This “bidding war” can benefit you because it can lead to your home being sold at a price more than you owe, thus resulting in what is commonly known as foreclosure surplus funds.
For example, if your home was sold for $200,000 and you owed $100,000 this would result in a surplus of $100,000, in which you may be entitled to per Florida Statute 45.032 (1)(a).
To determine if the sale of your home resulted in surplus funds you will need to refer to what is called a “Certificate of Disbursements.” A Certificate of Disbursements is a “report filed by the Clerk of Court that reflects the disbursement of proceeds from a sale in accordance with the order or final judgment” as stated in Florida Statute 45.031 (7)(a). However, it is important to note that the Certificate of Disbursements is not filed by the Clerk of Court immediately after a foreclosure sale takes place. The Certificate of Disbursements will usually be filed by the Clerk of Court about ten (10) after the foreclosure sale occurs. The reason for this delay is that the Clerk of Court will first need to file a Certificate of Sale and a Certificate of Title.
Per Florida Statute 45.031 (4)(5): “After a sale of the property the clerk shall promptly file a certificate of sale and serve a copy of it on each party. If no objections to the sale are filed within 10 days after filing the certificate of sale, the clerk shall file a certificate of title and serve a copy of it on each party.”
Now that you know about Certificates of Disbursements, and when they are filed, it is time for you to find out if there were any surplus funds retained by the Clerk of Court during the foreclosure sale of your home!
Once you have been served with a copy of the Certificate of Disbursements, you will see an outline of the funds that have been disbursed from the foreclosure sale of the property, by the Clerk of Court. If there were any surplus funds retained by the Clerk of Court they will either be outlined above or below the line stating “Total” or “Total Funds Disbursed.” Each County’s Clerk of Court may refer to surplus funds in the Certificate of Disbursements with any of the following verbiage: “Surplus Funds, Surplus Proceeds, Surplus…etc.” and typically the amount of surplus funds, if there are any, will be to the right of said verbiage.
Once you have located the surplus funds on the Certificate of Disbursement, please feel free to give me a call and I will personally give you a free consultation regarding your Florida foreclosure surplus case.
I handle Foreclosure Surplus Cases all over Florida and will work tirelessly to ensure that you receive YOUR surplus funds fast, efficient, and in the greatest amount possible.
Best of all I don’t get paid unless you do!