Recently, I’ve been receiving many calls from Third-Party Purchasers regarding surplus funds being left over after their recent purchase of a Florida property at a Florida mortgage foreclosure auction. Oftentimes, these Third-Party Purchasers are looking for a way to file a claim to receive a portion or even the entirety of the surplus funds that are available. Unfortunately, they are unable to. Florida 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.” Nowhere in this statute does it state that a Third-Party Purchaser, or purchaser, of a property at a Florida foreclosure auction is entitled to any portion of the surplus funds that may become available after their purchase of said Florida property. On the contrary, this statute clearly states the opposite. As previously mentioned, the surplus funds remaining after the purchase of a Florida property at a Florida foreclosure auction is presumed to be held solely for Subordinate Lienholders, if any, who have filed a timely claim for said surplus funds or the Owner of Record of the subject property at the time the lis pendens was filed.
Furthermore, despite there not being any case law or Florida statute to support the filing of a claim from a Third-Party Purchaser for Florida foreclosure surplus funds it appears that there is an ever-increasing amount of disgruntled Third-Party Purchasers who seem to file a claim for said surplus funds anyway. This is why I always tell former Florida Homeowners to consult with an Attorney prior to filing their claim for Florida foreclosure surplus funds as an Attorney is better able to, and can circumvent, these types of issues should they arise. For example, there is case law in opposition to Third-Party Purchasers receiving a disbursement of Florida foreclosure surplus funds. In Pineda vs. Wells Fargo 143 So.3d 1008 (2014), Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal ruled that the Third-Party Purchaser, who received a disbursement of the entirety of the surplus funds that were retained by the Clerk of Court, had to “deposit the surplus funds back into the court registry…” because the “trial court erred” in disbursing the funds to a Third-Party Purchaser rather than the former Homeowner who had filed a proper claim. As you can see, by hiring an experienced Florida foreclosure surplus funds recovery Attorney former Homeowners can ensure that their rights and interests to the surplus funds are safeguarded against those who do not have a right, or are not entitled, to receiving a disbursement of said surplus funds.
If you are reading this as a former Florida Homeowner whose home has recently been sold at a Florida mortgage foreclosure auction and would like to know if there are surplus funds available for you to claim, then please give me a call and I will personally give you a free consultation. During our consultation, I will confirm whether there are surplus funds available to be claimed as well as answer any questions that you may have. If there are surplus funds available to be claimed, then I will also provide you with a personalized strategy as to how we can assist you with the filing of your claim.
At Haynes Law Group, P.A., we have experienced Attorneys who are well-versed in the Florida statutes governing former Florida Homeowners’ claims to Florida mortgage 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!