When a home sells at a tax or foreclosure sale for more than what was owed, the leftover funds belong to the former owner. We find that money, confirm it's yours, and help you claim it.
See If Funds Are WaitingIf you've never heard the term before, you're not alone. Most people haven't, and that's exactly why this money so often goes unclaimed.
When a property is sold at a tax sale or a foreclosure auction, it's sold to satisfy a specific debt, usually unpaid taxes or a mortgage balance. Auctions are competitive, and the winning bid is often higher than the amount actually owed. That difference, the amount left over after the debt and sale costs are paid, is the surplus.
By law in most states, that leftover money does not belong to the county, the lender, or the buyer. It belongs to the former owner of the property, the person who lost it to the tax sale or foreclosure. Every state has its own surplus funds statute spelling this out, and the county's role under that law is to hold the funds and release them to the rightful former owner, not to keep them.
Counties aren't required to do much to find you. Often it's a single letter sent to the address of the property you no longer own, the one place you're least likely to still be. There's no public alert, no notification email, and no incentive for anyone to go looking for you. The money sits on a government ledger until someone files a claim for it.
Every county formats its records a little differently, but most include the same basics. Knowing them makes it easy to check your own.
Names and wording vary by county and state, and not every county publishes full details. You can always ask your county directly, and we'll walk you through yours.
We handle the research, the paperwork, and the county coordination. You review, sign, and get paid.
We monitor county tax sale and foreclosure auction records, cross-referencing the winning bid against the amount actually owed to identify sales that generated a surplus, and confirm whether funds are being held in your name from a past property sale.
We verify ownership, check for competing liens or other entitled parties, and prepare every document the county requires, at our expense. For claims that require formal legal filing, we bring in a licensed attorney in the state where the property was located, through our partner network.
Once the county reviews and approves the claim and releases the funds, your share is sent to you directly. If nothing is recovered, you owe us nothing.
We built this business on the same principle we lead every conversation with: you should always know exactly what's happening with your money, and why.
We go straight to the source. Every claim starts with the official county surplus record, so you can see exactly where your funds are held and how much is available before you ever sign anything. Our team cross-checks the sale record, the recorded lien history, and the current claim status with the holding agency itself, so what we tell you matches what the county's own file says.
Verified against the original county record, every time. You can check all of it yourself, and it happens before you sign anything, with no obligation.Our purpose is simple: connect people with money that already belongs to them. We handle the research and paperwork so a difficult chapter doesn't cost you money you're already owed. That includes locating heirs when the original owner has passed away, and walking families through exactly what documentation the county will need from them.
Every case gets a named point of contact, start to finish.We work on contingency and disclose our fee before you sign. If we don't recover anything, you owe us nothing. There's never a bill for our research, our time, or the paperwork we prepare on your behalf, and we'll always tell you upfront that you're free to file the claim yourself for nothing.
No retainer. No hourly rate. No hidden filing costs.The county won't charge you to release your own money, and we tell every client that upfront, in writing, before they sign anything. If you'd rather have us handle it, we only get paid if we recover your funds.
We'll never talk you out of filing yourself, it's your legal right, grounded in that state's own surplus funds statute. Most people simply didn't know this money existed until we reached out or they found us, and once they look into what filing actually requires, they find the same thing: the paperwork is unforgiving, and one mistake can cost you the whole claim.
Every state's surplus funds statute sets its own deadlines, forms, and rules for who qualifies as the rightful claimant. We work inside those rules, county by county, so nothing gets filed against the wrong record or the wrong deadline.
A claim filed against the wrong party, missing documentation, or submitted after the deadline can be denied outright, sometimes with no second chance to fix it. We build every claim to hold up the first time.
Some claims require formal legal filing we're not authorized to do ourselves. Through our partner network, we bring in a licensed attorney in the state where your property was located to handle that step correctly, something most people filing alone don't have.
There's no upfront cost either way. If you'd rather have someone else carry the research, the deadlines, and the paperwork, we only get paid if we actually recover your funds. If we can't, you've lost nothing by asking.
Surplus funds are real, publicly recorded money held by county governments, and every state has its own laws governing how tax sale and foreclosure surplus is handled and returned to former owners. We'll show you the exact county record your funds appear on before you sign anything, and you're always free to verify it yourself by calling the county directly or looking up your state's surplus funds statute. All of this happens before you sign anything, with no obligation, so you can confirm every detail yourself first. If you heard from us first, see our Heard from us? page for how to verify it.
Counties are usually only required to make a minimal effort to notify former owners, often a single letter to the address on file, which may be years out of date. They don't typically advertise these funds or actively track people down, and there's no financial incentive for them to try harder: the county isn't losing anything by leaving your funds unclaimed. In most states, if surplus funds go unclaimed long enough, they don't stay available to you forever. They eventually escheat, or get absorbed into state or county coffers, meaning you lose the right to claim them at all. That's exactly why acting on this sooner rather than later matters.
Nothing upfront. We only collect a fee out of the funds we successfully recover for you, and if we can't recover anything, you owe us nothing. There's no flat, one-size-fits-all fee, because no two claims are the same. What we charge depends on the specifics of your case, such as how complex the claim is, whether it requires a formal legal filing, and the rules of the state where the property was located. We'll walk you through the exact fee and put it in writing before you sign anything, so you always know the number before you commit.
Timelines vary by county, but most claims are resolved within a few months of submission. We'll keep you updated at every stage.
Yes, you can. Any county holding your funds will accept a claim directly from you at no cost, and we tell you that upfront because we'd rather earn your trust than hide the option. Some people do file on their own, and that's completely fine with us. Most people who choose to work with us do it because the process involves real research: confirming lien priority, verifying the correct claimant, and preparing documentation the way the county expects it. Missing a filing deadline or submitting a claim against the wrong record can get it rejected, and by the time you find out, the window to correct it may have already closed. In many states, funds that go unclaimed long enough are eventually absorbed by the state for good. We handle all of that at no upfront cost, and we only get paid if we actually recover your funds. You're not paying for something you couldn't do, you're paying to not risk losing it over a mistake. We track the deadlines, check who has priority on the funds, document the right claimant, and file it correctly the first time.
Yes. Surplus recovery isn't a one-person job, and we don't pretend it is. Much of the claims process is administrative, but some claims require a formal legal filing we're not authorized to perform ourselves. That's where our partner network comes in: a group of licensed attorneys and title-research professionals we work with. When a claim needs that step, we bring in a vetted attorney admitted in the state where the property was located, so it's prepared and filed correctly under the law that applies there. You're never handed off to a stranger. We stay your point of contact from the first call to the day you're paid.
No. Surplus funds are governed by state law, so the deadlines, who holds the money, how a claim is filed, and what fees are allowed can all differ depending on where the property was located. Once we know your state, we'll walk you through the rules that apply to your claim, including the deadline and the official county or state office that holds your funds. You're always free to look up your state's surplus funds statute or contact the county directly yourself.
To file a claim for you, the county needs proof of who you are and written authorization for us to act on this one matter. That authorization is a limited power of attorney, and "limited" means it does exactly one thing: it lets us submit and follow your surplus claim through the county. It gives us no access to your bank accounts, your credit, or any other part of your life. You can revoke it at any time, and it expires on its own once your claim is resolved. Anything you send us is kept secure and is never sold or shared beyond what's required to file your claim.
Or whatever you remember of it. This lets us pull the county's surplus record and confirm funds are being held in your name.
The county requires it to confirm you're the rightful claimant before it will release any money.
This authorizes us to file and follow your claim, and nothing else. See the note above for exactly what it does and does not allow.
For example, when you're claiming for a relative who has passed. We'll tell you exactly what's required and help you gather it.
We'll never ask for money upfront, and we'll never ask for anything we don't genuinely need to file your claim.
Tell us where the property was located and we'll check the public record at no cost to you.
Whether you want to verify a record yourself or just have a question, we're happy to help.