You got a notice of surplus funds or excess proceeds after a foreclosure or tax sale: what it means

What this notice is

What it does and does not mean

• It does not mean you have to pay anyone to get the money. You can claim it yourself. Florida's mortgage surplus claim form, for example, says you do not need a lawyer and do not have to assign your rights to anyone.
• It does not undo the sale. The home is gone, but this money may be yours.
• No general federal rule decides who gets mortgage surplus or how to claim it. State law does. One federal rule covers HUD-held mortgages foreclosed without a court under the Single Family Mortgage Foreclosure Act: surplus goes to junior lienholders in order, then to the former owner.
• After a tax sale, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Tyler v. Hennepin County (2023) that a government cannot keep the value beyond the tax debt without just compensation, and in Pung v. Isabella County (2026) that after a fair sale the measure is the auction price, not market value.

Who holds the money and the deadlines to claim it

• Trustee's sale: in California the trustee must mail a notice within 30 days after the trustee's deed is signed, and your written claim must reach the trustee within 30 days after that notice is sent. In Arizona the trustee must mail you a notice of excess proceeds within 15 days of the sale. In Texas there is no state claim form, so you write to the trustee.
• Court clerk or court fund: Florida (sworn owner's claim form, filed before the clerk reports the money as unclaimed, about 1 year after the sale), New Jersey (motion to the Superior Court Trust Fund, $50 filing fee), Washington (motion for disbursement in superior court) and Ohio (the clerk must notify you and pay on demand).
• Short deadlines: in South Carolina a sworn claim is due within 45 days after the sale report is filed, and a late claim is treated as abandoned. In North Dakota, if the surplus is under $1,000 and no one applies within 60 days after it is deposited, the court must give it to the county.
• No set process: in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and New Hampshire we found no statute setting a claim form or deadline, so ask the foreclosing lawyer or trustee in writing right after the sale.
• Tax sales: Michigan requires Form 5743 by the July 1 after the foreclosure, often before the auction. Florida clerks mail a notice of surplus that starts a 120-day claim period. Other tax surplus deadlines run from the sale or from the recorded deed: 90 days after the sale in North Dakota, 6 months after the sale in Alaska, 1 year in California, Nevada and Oklahoma, 2 years in Texas and Virginia, and 3 years in Washington and Indiana. Each state page says when the clock starts.

What to do this week

• Find out who ran the sale: the trustee or sheriff named in your notice of sale, the court that handled your case, or the tax office. Look up their phone number yourself on a court, county or state website.
• Ask, in writing, for an accounting: the sale price, what was paid to the lender, costs and fees, other liens paid, and the amount left. Keep a copy and proof of mailing.
• Give the trustee, court or tax office your current mailing address in writing. In Virginia, the trustee is not bound by transfers or liens it does not actually know about before it pays out.
• File the claim yourself using the form or steps on your state's surplus funds page. Ask legal aid for free help if the claim is filed in court or another lienholder disputes it.
• Search your state's unclaimed property site if the sale was long ago.
• Keep records for taxes. See Forms 1099-A and 1099-C.

Surplus finder letters and fee limits

• California: no one may contact you to claim your surplus until 90 days after the trustee's deed is recorded, and a foreclosure consultant may never arrange the release of your surplus for a fee.
• Colorado: while the money is with the public trustee, any agreement to pay someone to recover it is unenforceable, and trying to get you to sign one is a misdemeanor.
• Florida: a company that takes an assignment of mortgage surplus may take no more than 12 percent and must file the agreement with the court within 60 days after the certificate of disbursements.
• Washington: no one may charge more than 5 percent of the surplus returned to you, plus attorney fees a court approves.
• Arizona and Nevada: the agreement must be written, signed and notarized, is void if signed within 30 days after the sale, and a fee over $2,500 (not counting attorney fees and costs) is presumed unreasonable.
• Nebraska: anyone who charges to help you get excess proceeds is a foreclosure consultant, cannot take payment until every promised service is done, and you can cancel at any time.
• Nevada tax sales: no more than 10 percent of the excess owed to you.
• Maryland: a deal to buy your surplus must include a Notice of Rescission, and you can cancel within 10 days after the auditor states the account by repaying what you got plus 8 percent interest. There is no percentage cap.