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Florida is our home state and deepest coverage. When a Florida property sells at a tax deed auction for more than the taxes owed, the excess belongs to the former owner under F.S. §197.582. The county Clerk of Court holds it — and the Clerk is the one source of truth. Every Clerk is linked below so you can verify your surplus directly, free, before you talk to anyone (including us). When you do want help, licensed attorneys assist with the paperwork with the counties on every claim we take.
The Florida law governing tax deed surplus and how the Clerk disburses it. Read it.
Claims are generally due within 120 days of the Clerk’s notice of surplus. Owners can have longer — until funds are reported unclaimed — but waiting is how money is lost.
Unclaimed surplus is reported to the Florida Dept. of Financial Services, Division of Unclaimed Property. A slower, separate process — and paid help at that stage is restricted to a Florida-licensed attorney, CPA, or registered PI (F.S. §717.1400). We take no fee on State-held funds.
Highest-volume counties for tax deed surplus: Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Orange, Duval, Pinellas, Lee, Polk, Volusia.
Everything below is free and public — the same sequence we run on every Florida file.
Your Clerk holds tax-deed surplus and the tax deed case file. Use the grid below to open your county's Clerk site and search “tax deed surplus” or “surplus funds list” — most Clerks publish a list or a tax-deed search. Or call with the property address / parcel number; the Clerk confirms existence and amount to any caller with the file number.
Ask the Clerk for the notice-of-surplus mailing date — claims are generally due within 120 days of it (F.S. §197.582). Our free deadline estimator does the math from either the notice date or the sale date.
Liens are paid from the surplus by priority before the owner: mortgages, HOA/condo liens, judgment liens, IRS and state tax liens. Search your county's Official Records (on the same Clerk site) for the owner's name — anything recorded without a matching satisfaction/release is still live. The NETR Florida directory ↗ links every county's recorder, appraiser, and tax collector in one place.
Search the county Clerk's civil case docket for money judgments against the owner, and PACER ↗ for federal judgments and bankruptcy (a bankruptcy can pull the surplus into the estate).
What you actually receive = surplus minus senior liens minus statutory Clerk charges (F.S. §28.24). Our net-recovery calculator shows the take-home with and without our fee. Clean case? Self-file, free.
If the window closed, the money went to the Florida DFS Division of Unclaimed Property. Search and claim free, forever — there's no time limit — at FLTreasureHunt.gov ↗ (or check other states at MissingMoney.com ↗). We take no fee at that stage.
County guides. 8 counties now have a full guide of their own — the Clerk’s actual claim form, filing address, deadline and local traps: Broward · Collier · Duval · Hillsborough · Manatee · Marion · Orange · Sarasota. The rest link straight to their Clerk.
Surplus is public record. Any Clerk will confirm existence and amount by phone or in person to a caller with the tax deed file number. Self-filing with the Clerk is always free.
You stay the legal claimant and the named payee on the Clerk’s disbursement. In Florida the claim is prepared and filed by an independent licensed attorney whom you engage directly; we verify the surplus, assemble your documents, and track the 120-day deadline — and we're paid only after you are: a flat 25% of recovered funds (30% on complex cases — probate, competing liens, multiple heirs, or a required court petition), $0 upfront, three-business-day cancellation.
Check what you’re owed →