Recently, I’ve been receiving calls from former Florida homeowners who are seeking to file a claim for the foreclosure surplus funds that are remaining after the recent foreclosure auction of their Florida property, but they are located outside the United States. The questions I am asked most often by these former Homeowners are 1.) What are surplus funds? and 2.) Whether they are eligible to file a claim for said surplus funds despite being in a different county?
The answer to the first question is outlined by Florida Statute 45.032(2) which states, “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.” The “owner of record” as previously mentioned is further defined by Fla. Statute 45.032(1)(a) as “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.”
For Example: If a final judgment of foreclosure is entered against in a foreclosure action in the amount of $50,000 and the Florida property is sold at a Florida foreclosure auction in the amount of $100,000, then there will be a surplus of funds in the amount of $50,000 for the former Homeowner(s) to claim!
Based on the answer to the first question above you can probably infer that the answer to the second question is yes. As the former Homeowner(s) of the subject property at the time the foreclosure action was initiated and the auction took place, the former Homeowner(s) is/are entitled to a portion, or the entirety, of the surplus funds that remain. I say portion, or entirety, of the funds because if there is a Subordinate Lienholder that has filed a timely claim, then they will be entitled to a portion, or the entirety, of the funds that remain based on the debt that is owed to them. Moreover, nowhere in Florida Statutes does it state that the former homeowner(s) must reside or be living within the United States to file their claim. Thus, former Florida Homeowners are entitled to and are eligible to filing a claim for Florida foreclosure surplus funds should they be available after the Florida foreclosure auction of their property.
If your home has recently been sold at a Florida foreclosure auction and you would like to know whether there are surplus funds available for you to recover; then please give me a call and I will personally give you a free consultation. During our consultation, I will confirm whether there are surplus funds available to be recovered as well as answer any questions that you may have. If there are surplus funds to be recovered, then I will also provide you with a personalized strategy as to how we can assist you with the recovery of YOUR Florida foreclosure surplus funds.
At Haynes Law Group, P.A., we have experienced attorneys who are well-versed in the Florida statutes governing Florida Homeowners’ claims to Florida foreclosure surplus funds and have helped to recover millions 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.