In this section
Our Services
Surplus Funds Recovery
Surplus from a mortgage or deed-of-trust foreclosure: who holds the money, who is paid ahead of you, and what it takes to get it released.
Read moreTax Sale Excess Proceeds
Tax deed and tax sale excess proceeds: who holds the money, why claim windows differ so much by state, and what a county claim has to prove.
Read moreEstate and Heir Recovery
The owner died and the home was sold. See which estate document usually unlocks the surplus, how several heirs claim, and what a missing heir changes.
Read moreProbate Assistance
When a surplus claim needs a probate, see which route usually fits, who signs the claim at the end of it, and who pays the court costs.
Read moreUnclaimed Property Recovery
Foreclosure or tax-sale money that was transferred to a state unclaimed property program: the free search, the claim, and the fee limits on this kind of money.
Read moreClaimant Advocacy
One person to deal with the trustee, the clerk, the county and the lienholders, to say where your claim stands, and to read any offer before you sign it.
Read moreEviction Defense
After a foreclosure or tax sale the removal clock and your surplus claim run at once, and a rushed deal on one can quietly cost you the other.
Read moreUnlawful Detainer Filings
The eviction lawsuit has many state names. Whatever yours is called, the paper you file back has a date, and a wrong move can cost your surplus.
Read more- Sale costs and recorded liens come out first; the remainder belongs to the former owner
- No out-of-pocket expense: filing, notary and copy costs are advanced for you
- A completion fee is paid from the surplus only after the money is recovered
- Claimants in all 50 states and D.C., with attorneys where a state requires one
A foreclosure auction or a tax sale can bring in more than the debt that forced it, and the difference belongs to the person who lost the property or to that person’s heirs. Almost nobody is handed it. The money waits with a trustee, a county office or a court clerk until a signed claim arrives, and notices go to your last known address, often the house you just lost. Below are the six services our post foreclosure specialists provide.
Start here if a sale brought more than the debt
Surplus funds is the money left after a forced sale pays what it was held to pay. Different offices call the same money excess proceeds, overage or overbid. The order of payment is much the same everywhere: the costs of the sale first, then the foreclosed debt, then junior liens in priority order, and last the former owner or whoever inherited from them.
The money does not grow while it sits, and your state decides how long the window stays open. If a lender or its trustee ran the sale, start with surplus funds recovery. If a county sold the property over unpaid taxes, read tax sale excess proceeds.
The six services
Surplus Funds Recovery is for a sale run under a mortgage or deed of trust, whether a court ordered it or a trustee auctioned without one.
Tax Sale Excess Proceeds is for a sale run by a county or city over unpaid property taxes, where a treasurer, tax collector or clerk holds the money.
Estate and Heir Recovery is for a surplus that belongs to an owner who has died. The right passes to the estate, so the work starts with the heirs and the document that lets one sign.
Probate Assistance is for a claim nobody can sign until a court appoints someone, or until a will or trust is found and verified. Most states have a short procedure for small estates; bigger ones need a personal representative.
Unclaimed Property Recovery is for money that waited long enough to be moved to a state unclaimed property program or a county fund.
Claimant Advocacy is one point of contact for a claimant tired of being transferred: we deal with the trustee, clerk, county and lienholders and report where the file stands.
What you pay, and when
A surplus claim carries no out-of-pocket expense. Filing fees, certified copies, recording charges and notary costs are advanced for you, and the organization is paid a completion fee from the recovered surplus. The amount goes into a signed agreement before work starts. Recover nothing, owe nothing.
Where your state requires a licensed attorney for a court or probate filing, a licensed attorney handles it, and you still pay nothing out of pocket.
Recovery companies are not regulated the same way twice. Some states limit what may be charged for this work or dictate terms a contract has to contain; what we found for your state sits on its by-state page. California goes further than a fee rule. In California, claims by a former owner-occupant of a home sold at a trustee’s sale are handled by a licensed California attorney, because California law reserves that work for the owner’s attorney (Cal. Civ. Code §2945.4).
Call now: Check If You’re Owed Money before your state’s window closes.
What our specialists take off your plate
What our specialists add is the finding and the follow-through: reading the sale figures out of the record, working out who stands ahead of you, opening an estate when one is needed, answering a competing lienholder, and keeping the file inside your state’s deadline. No office charges to confirm the money is there, and the specialists clear the hurdles that keep a surplus from reaching the owner. To see what qualifies you for that help, read how to qualify.
What a claim review answers
A review is a short set of questions with your documents attached, not a sales call. By the end you know whether a surplus exists, which office holds it, whose signature it accepts, and how much time is left. If there is nothing, we say so.
Questions about our services
It depends on who ran the sale and how long ago it was. A lender or trustee sale points to surplus funds recovery, a county tax sale points to excess proceeds, and money that has sat for years may already have moved to a state unclaimed property program. Tell us the property address and we will say which file it is.
No. A claim review costs you nothing, and no trustee, county or court bills you for confirming that a surplus exists. Anyone who wants money up front to look is not worth answering.
It is the only payment the organization takes. It comes out of the recovered surplus after the money is released, and the amount is set in a signed agreement before work starts. No recovery, no fee, and nothing is billed to you along the way.
Whoever the state lets act for the estate. That can be an heir using a small-estate procedure, a personal representative appointed by the probate court, or a successor trustee of a living trust. Sorting that out is the first part of the work, not an obstacle to starting.
Yes. Claimants in all 50 states and D.C. Rules, forms and deadlines change at every state line, so every file is worked against the statute where the property sold.