Is There a Deadline for Former Homeowners To File a Claim for Foreclosure Surplus Funds?
Today, we will be discussing whether there is a deadline for a former homeowner to file a claim for their foreclosure surplus funds. The short and straightforward answer to this question is yes and no. You may be wondering why I say yes and no.
The reason I say there is a deadline is because the former homeowners have up to 1-year from the date of the Florida foreclosure sale of their Florida property to file a homeowners’ claim for surplus funds if any.
After 1-year has passed the funds are to be “any surplus remaining with the clerk of the court that has not been disbursed as provided herein is presumed unclaimed as set forth in s. 717.113 and must be reported and remitted to the department in accordance with ss. 717.117 and 717.119…,” according to Fla. Statute 45.032(3)(c).
Once the funds are reported to the state department, then the process to recover said funds are completely different and will have to go through the Florida Department of Financial Services. Whereas if a homeowners’ claim for surplus funds is filed prior to the 1-year deadline, then the claim filing process will go through the clerk of court and will be streamlined as long as there are no Subordinate Lienholder.
If a competing claim is filed by a Subordinate Lienholder, then the matter will have to go before a Judge in what is called an Evidentiary Hearing. During the said hearing, the Judge will determine the priority in which the surplus funds are to be disbursed to the competing claimants. If your case has been set for an Evidentiary Hearing, I strongly suggest consulting with an experienced Florida foreclosure surplus funds recovery attorney to avoid losing a portion, or even, the entirety of the surplus funds that are available to the competing claimant.
***Please note that if your Florida foreclosure surplus funds matter involves a subordinate lienholder and they have not filed a claim within the 1-year deadline and the funds have been remitted/reported to the state department, then the Subordinate Lienholder is no longer entitled to any portion of the surplus funds***
If you are reading this as a former Florida Homeowner whose home has recently been sold at a Florida foreclosure auction and would like to know if there are surplus funds available for you to recover, 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 recovered as well as answer any questions that you may have. If there are surplus funds to be recovered, then I will also provide you with a personalized strategy as to how we can assist you with the recovery of your Florida foreclosure surplus funds. 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.
At Haynes Law Group, we have experienced attorneys who are well-versed in the Florida statutes governing Florida homeowners’ claims to Florida foreclosure surplus funds and have helped to recover millions of dollars for former Florida homeowners. Contact us to get started on your claim today.