In Florida, there are certain rights and programs that are in place to protect Renters when they are the Tenants of a property that may be going through foreclosure or that has already been sold at a foreclosure auction. When a Renter ends up in this unfortunate circumstance, they may begin conducting their own research to obtain information as to how they can best protect themselves in order to avoid being evicted, or displaced, from what they once considered their home. While a Renter is conducting their research, they may come across what is known as Foreclosure Surplus Funds. Surplus Funds, in layman’s terms. are the outstanding or excess amount of funds that are remaining after the foreclosure sale of a Florida property.
For example: If a Final Judgment is entered in a Florida foreclosure lawsuit in the amount of $100,000 and the property sells at a foreclosure auction for $150,000, then there will be a surplus of funds in the amount of $50,000 retained by the Clerk of Court!
As a Renter, you may feel that you are entitled or deserving of these surplus funds due to being a victim in the middle of this tragedy. However, it is with a heavy heart that I must say that as a Renter you are not entitled to any of the Surplus Funds. The reason for this is that Fla Statute 45.032(2) clearly states that “There is established a rebuttable legal presumption that the Owner of Record on the date of the filing of a lis pendens is the person entitled to surplus funds after payment of subordinate lienholders who have timely filed a claim.”. According to Fla Statute 45.032(1) the “Owner of Record” is “the person or persons who appear to be owners of the property that is the subject of the foreclosure proceeding on the date of the filing of the lis pendens.” Therefore, meaning that Florida Courts will only consider disbursing the surplus funds to the eligible parties who are able to file a claim. In this instance, those parties would be Subordinate Lienholders (Junior Lienholders) that have filed a timely claim as well as the Legal Titleholder(s) of the subject property at the time that the foreclosure lawsuit was initiated.
As you can see, Renter’s, unfortunately, are not able to file a claim for Florida Foreclosure Surplus Funds even if they are evicted from the subject property once it has been sold at a foreclosure auction.
If you are reading this as a former Florida Homeowner and are seeking assistance in the filing of your claim for Florida foreclosure surplus funds, please give me a call and I will personally give you a free consultation. During our consultation, I will provide you with a personalized strategy as to how we will go about the claim filing process as well as answer any questions that you may have.
At Haynes Law Group, P.A., we have experienced Attorneys who are well versed in the Florida statutes governing former Florida Homeowners claims to foreclosure surplus funds and have helped to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars for former Florida Homeowners. We represent former Homeowners all over the state of Florida no matter which county they are in and will work tirelessly to ensure that you receive the Gold Standard of Legal Service. Best of all, we represent our Clients on contingency which means we don’t get paid unless you do!