- Searching asks for nothing but an address or a last name
- Every record comes from the public filings of a completed foreclosure sale
- The house number, the owner's full name and the exact figure stay hidden until you register
- A specialist calls after you register; there is no out-of-pocket expense
Search foreclosure surplus records
If your home, or a family member's home, was sold at foreclosure, surplus funds may be owed. Search by the property address or the previous owner's last name.
What this search covers
The records behind this search come from the public filings of completed foreclosure sales: the deed given to the buyer, the notice of sale and the recorded loan that was foreclosed. When the price paid at the auction was higher than the loan balance recorded before the sale, the difference is a potential surplus, and a record is posted. Records are added as sales are confirmed, so a sale from last week may not appear yet while a sale from last year will.
Every record you can open here is held on our records site, FindMyForeclosureSurplus.org, and listed on this site under surplus records. The same specialists stand behind both sites, and the same rule applies to both: the public part of a record is written so that the right family can recognise their property, and nobody else can turn it into a mailing list.
What a public record shows, and what it hides
A public record shows the street name with the house number partly masked, the city, county, state and ZIP code, the previous owner as a first name and a last initial, the month of the foreclosure sale, and the potential surplus as a range rather than an exact figure. Where the sale was listed at auction but the final price is not yet recorded, the record says so and uses a potential sale price instead.
The record hides everything that could be used to approach the former owner uninvited. The full address, the map and street view, the latest purchase price and the estimated amount owed open only after you register and confirm your relationship to the property. Contact details for the previous owner are never published, not even to people who register.
How to search well
Start with the property address. Type the street name without the house number first, because the number is masked in the public record and a mismatch there will hide a real match. If the street has a common name, add the two-letter state in the second box. If you are searching for a relative, use the last name alone; first names, middle initials and suffixes are not part of the public record.
Spelling matters more than you would expect. The filings use the name exactly as it appeared on the deed, so a maiden name, a hyphenated name or a name recorded with a trust may differ from the one the family uses. Try each form you know. The search looks at the address, the last name, the city, the county and the ZIP code, so a town name on its own will list every posted sale in that town.
The results list shows the masked address, the county, the owner’s first name and last initial, the sale month and the surplus range. Open any result to read the full public record, which also explains how the figure was calculated and what a potential surplus means.
After you find a record
On the record page, choose the option to register and view the full record. You answer three questions about your relationship to the property, give your name, phone number, email address and current address, and choose a password so you can return. One registration covers one property, which is one of the ways the record is kept out of the wrong hands.
Once registered you see the full address, the map and street view, the latest purchase price and the estimated amount owed. A post foreclosure specialist then contacts you directly. The specialist confirms whether a surplus exists and who is holding it, checks the deadline that applies in your county, and prepares the authorizations, affidavits, probate papers where an owner has passed away, and court filings. We advance every required fee. Our only payment is a completion fee taken from the surplus once it is recovered, so there is never an out-of-pocket expense. 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.
If nothing comes up
A blank result does not mean there is no money. It can mean the sale is not yet in the set, that the auction price did not exceed the loan balance, or that the filing used a name or address you did not try. Read who can claim surplus funds to check that you are the right person to be searching, and funds held by the court to learn where the money sits in your state. If you know the sale happened and want it checked against the trustee or court file, contact us with the address and the month of the sale and we look it up for you.
Why the deadline matters
Each state sets its own clock, and it starts at the sale. In some states the trustee holds the surplus for a short period and pays the former owner directly; in others the money is deposited with the court and sits there until someone petitions. After the statutory period, unclaimed money is turned over to the state, where it can still be recovered but only through a slower second process. Open surplus funds by state for your state’s rule, and register as soon as you find a record rather than wait for a notice that was mailed to a house you no longer live in.
Questions about search for your surplus
A set of records built from the public filings of completed foreclosure sales where the recorded sale price was higher than the loan balance. Each record is checked and posted as the sale is confirmed, so the set grows over time. It is not a list of every foreclosure in the country, and it is not the county's own claim register.
To protect the former owner. The public record shows enough to recognise a property, the street name, city, county, ZIP and the sale month, but masks the house number, shortens the owner's name to a first name and last initial, and gives the surplus as a range. The full record opens only after you register and confirm your relationship to the property.
No. There is no out-of-pocket expense at any point, from the search to the registration to the claim itself. If you go on to work with our specialists, our only payment is a completion fee taken from the surplus once it has been recovered.
The most common reasons are a sale that is not yet in the set, a sale where the price did not exceed the loan balance, or a search term that does not match the filing. Try the street name alone, try the last name alone, and add the two-letter state. If there is still no match, call us and we check the trustee or court file directly.
You see the full address, a map and street view, the latest purchase price and the estimated amount owed. One of our post foreclosure specialists then contacts you directly, confirms your relationship to the property, explains the deadline that applies in your county, and prepares every authorization and filing. Previous owners' contact details are never shown to anyone.