Have you been contacted by a Foreclosure Sale Surplus Recovery Company to “help” you retrieve your surplus funds from either the sale of your home or that of a deceased relative? I know I speak of the dangers of this often, but I am going to give some prime examples of why you should never sign up with them and only hire a qualified Florida Foreclosure Sale Surplus attorney.
Currently, I have quite a few cases where I represent former homeowners or heirs of former homeowners and a surplus recovery company is attempting to take the funds from them. For example, I have two cases going on against an unnamed surplus recovery company where there is a Will devising the property (and therefore surplus funds from the sale of the property) to my clients. The recovery company has been assigned the rights of persons who are not named in the will but are relatives of the deceased party. In both cases, their attorney has filed erroneous probate cases attempting to keep my clients from receiving what is rightfully theirs. I say this only to show you what lengths these companies are willing to go through for your money.
In both of those cases, I am now having to fight the surplus recovery company in probate court in order to make sure my clients, the rightful beneficiaries, get the Florida Foreclosure Sale Surplus Funds they are owed by way of the deceased party’s Will. These should have been simple cases, but unfortunately when there is thousands of dollars on the line, and a very greedy surplus recovery company, it can make things much more complex.
Additionally, I have a case where I had to file a probate on behalf of a large number of heirs in order to retrieve the Florida Foreclosure Surplus Funds for them. In the foreclosure case, there are two surplus recovery companies that are claiming the funds on behalf of two different people that are not heirs to the estate at all. They simply found people who had similar names and got them to sign agreements in order to retrieve those funds. One of the surplus recovery companies in this case didn’t hire an attorney but filed on its own behalf. In the State of Florida, a company cannot represent itself or have a non-attorney represent it. A company or LLC must always be represented by an attorney. The courts have stated, “It is well recognized that a corporation, unlike a natural person, cannot represent itself and cannot appear in a court of law without an attorney.” Szteinbaum v. Kaes Inversiones y Valores, C.A., 476 So. 2d 247, 248 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1985). So by filing this without an attorney, the person who filed it is actually practicing law without a license. In the State of Florida, if someone is convicted of practicing law without a license, it is a Third-Degree Felony, which is punishable by up to 5 years in jail and/or up to a $5,000 fine.
Lastly, I have a case where a surplus recovery company contacted my client and coerced him into signing by fraudulently stated they worked with the county the case was filed in and they told him they were just there to “help” him to retrieve the surplus funds. They never once mentioned what percentage rate they would receive for doing so. They never stated he would be assigning his rights to the surplus funds to them. They also didn’t follow the law when requesting the Florida Foreclosure Sale Surplus Funds. Now I am tasked with fighting them off to make sure my client is able to get out of the assignment and make sure he gets the most of his surplus funds.
If you have been contacted by a surplus recovery company after the foreclosure sale of your property or that of a deceased loved one, I urge you to not sign up with them and instead speak to a qualified Florida Foreclosure Sale Surplus Attorney. Please give me a call for a free consultation. I will do everything I can to make sure you get the maximum surplus funds you have coming to you. I handle Foreclosure Sale Surplus and Tax Deed Sale Surplus in every County in the State of Florida, and I don’t get paid unless you do.