One of the toughest conversations I have with many Florida Homeowners, who have lost their home in a Florida foreclosure auction, is “What happens next?”. Well, first and foremost the first thing that former Homeowner(s) must do is move out. This may be one of the hardest things I have to tell former Homeowners as they have recently just lost their home. The next thing I tell them to help soften the blow is that there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. I say this because there’s a chance that there may be Florida Foreclosure Surplus Funds available for the former Homeowner(s) to claim. In fact, the best place to check if you have Florida foreclosure surplus funds available to be claimed is either on the Clerk of Court’s website or on the Clerk’s filed Certificate of Disbursements. The Certificate of Disbursements is usually filed within ten (10) days after the Certificate of Sale is filed by the Clerk of Court.
For readers who do not know what Florida foreclosure surplus funds are, please allow me to provide you with a brief definition and example for your reference. In Florida, foreclosure surplus funds are “the funds remaining after payment of all disbursements required by the final judgment of foreclosure and shown on the certificate of disbursements,” according to Fla. Statute 45.032(1)(c).
For example: If a Final Judgment is entered in a Florida foreclosure lawsuit in the amount of $30,000 and the property sells at a foreclosure auction for $150,000, then there will be a surplus of funds in the amount of $120,000 retained by the Clerk of Court!
Most of the time, former Homeowner(s) believe it’s too good to be true especially after they have just lost their homes due to foreclosure and will often ask “how?” and/or “why?” they are able to file a claim for surplus funds. The reason for this is because Fla. Statute 45.032(2) states that “there is established a rebuttable legal presumption that the owner of record on the date of the filing of a lis pendens is the person entitled to surplus funds after payment of subordinate lienholders who have timely filed a claim.” According to Fla. Statute 45.032(1), the owner of record is the “person or persons who appear to be owners of the property that is the subject of the foreclosure proceeding on the date of the filing of the lis pendens.”
If you are a former Florida Homeowner, whose property has been sold at a Florida foreclosure auction, and are unsure as to whether you have surplus funds available to be claimed, please give me a call and I will personally give you a free consultation! During our consultation, I will confirm whether or not you have surplus funds available to be claimed as well as answer any questions that you may have. If there are surplus funds available to be claimed, then I will also provide you with a personalized strategy as to how we will go about the claim filing process.
At Haynes Law Group, P.A., we have experienced Attorneys who are well versed in the Florida statutes governing former Florida Homeowners claims to foreclosure surplus funds and have helped to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars for former Florida Homeowners. 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. Best of all, we represent our Clients on contingency which means we don’t get paid unless you do!