If you have received a Certificate of Disbursements after the recent Florida foreclosure sale of your Florida property, then chances are there is what is known as surplus funds available for you to claim as the former Homeowner. In Florida, foreclosure surplus funds are “the funds remaining after payment of all disbursements required by the final judgment of foreclosure and shown on the certificate of disbursements” (according to Fla. Statute 45.032(1)(c)). This same statute 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.” Thus, as the former Homeowner you are entitled to a portion, or even the entirety, of the surplus funds that may be available to be claimed.
For example: (1) If a Final Judgment is entered in a Florida foreclosure action in the amount of $30,000 and the property is sold at foreclosure auction for $150,000, then there will be a surplus of funds in the amount of $120,000 retained by the Clerk of Court for the former Florida Homeowner to claim!
(2) If there is a Subordinate Lienholder with a valid lien in the amount of $20,000 and they file a timely claim, then the subordinate lienholder will be entitled to a disbursement of the surplus funds that are available. Thus, leaving a remaining balance of $100,000 in the Court registry for the former Florida Homeowner to claim!
Moving on, if you are unsure whether the document you received is a Certificate of Disbursements, then please see the example I’ve included below:
CERTIFICATE OF DISBURSEMENTS
The undersigned clerk of the court certifies that he or she disbursed the proceeds received from the sale of the property as provided in the order or final judgment to the persons and in the amounts as follows:
Name Amount
Total disbursements: $
Surplus retained by clerk, if any: $
IF YOU ARE A PERSON CLAIMING A RIGHT TO FUNDS REMAINING AFTER THE SALE, YOU MUST FILE A CLAIM WITH THE CLERK NO LATER THAN THE DATE THAT THE CLERK REPORTS THE FUNDS AS UNCLAIMED. IF YOU FAIL TO FILE A CLAIM, YOU WILL NOT BE ENTITLED TO ANY REMAINING FUNDS. AFTER THE FUNDS ARE REPORTED AS UNCLAIMED, ONLY THE OWNER OF RECORD AS OF THE DATE OF THE LIS PENDENS MAY CLAIM THE SURPLUS.
WITNESS my hand and the seal of the court on , (year) .
(Clerk)
By (Deputy Clerk)
If what you received looks like the above, then there are surplus funds available for you to claim. Prior to filing a homeowner’s claim for surplus funds, I highly recommend consulting with an experienced Florida foreclosure surplus funds recovery attorney. By speaking with an experienced Florida foreclosure surplus funds recovery attorney, you can gain invaluable knowledge as to your rights to said funds. Furthermore, if you’ve been contacted by a Third-Party Surplus Funds Recovery Company looking to “aid” you in the filing of your claim; then I recommend speaking to an experienced Florida foreclosure surplus funds recovery attorney right away.
Thus, if you are reading this as a former Florida Homeowner whose home has recently been sold at a Florida foreclosure auction or have received a Certificate of Disbursements from the Clerk of Court and would like to know whether 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 foreclosure surplus funds and have helped to recover millions 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.