If your Broward County property sold at a tax deed auction for more than the taxes owed, the overage is yours — not the county’s. Here is exactly who holds it, the deadline that applies, and how to claim it yourself for free.
Who holds the money, and until when
County seatFort Lauderdale, Florida · Southeast region
Office holding the surplusBroward County Records, Taxes and Treasury Division
Deadline120 days from the date on the Clerk’s notice of surplus, under F.S. §197.582. Lienholders are barred after day 120; the former owner has longer, until the funds are reported as unclaimed.
Filing it yourself, step by step
Confirm the surplus exists and get the notice date. Call or write the Broward County Records, Taxes and Treasury Division and ask for the amount on deposit and the date the notice of surplus was mailed. That date starts your 120 days — not the auction date.
Get it notarized. The affidavit is sworn. A notary or deputy clerk must witness your signature.
Attach your proof. Titleholders: government-issued photo ID and anything showing you held title. Lienholders: a payoff statement or affidavit of indebtedness proving the amount owed and that you still hold the lien. Estates: the probate order.
Confirm receipt. Ask the Clerk to acknowledge the filing in writing, and keep the postmark. If the claim is contested you will need both.
What trips people up in Broward County
Broward publishes the clearest distribution waterfall in the state: “these funds will be used to satisfy in full each claimant with a senior mortgage or lien in the property before distribution of any funds to any junior mortgage or lien claimant or to the former property owner.”
Note Broward runs surplus through Records, Taxes and Treasury rather than the Clerk of Court — do not send claims to the Clerk.
The Florida rules behind all of this
These apply statewide, not just in Broward County:
The surplus is yours. When a tax deed sale brings more than the taxes owed, the excess belongs to the former owner. F.S. §197.582. The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed the principle nationwide in Tyler v. Hennepin County (2023).
Governmental liens are paid first. Under §197.582(2)(a) the Clerk pays governmental units holding liens of record before anyone else. Note AGO 2020-01, which reads those units as entitled to payment even if they never file a request — so a county code lien may reduce your net whether or not it makes a claim.
Private lienholders are barred after 120 days. §197.582(5) bars every claim except the property owner’s after the 120th day. If a mortgage servicer, HOA or judgment creditor misses it, that interest is waived.
If nobody claims, the owner is presumed entitled. §197.582(9) creates a conclusive presumption in the titleholder’s favour when no claims arrive, and the Clerk then processes the funds under Chapter 717.
A code enforcement lien only counts if it runs against your parcel. In Green Terrace E33, LLC v. Abruzzo (Fla. 4th DCA 2024) the former owner beat a city code lien because the lien ran against condominium common elements, not the unit. Worth checking against any lien claimed on your property.
Nothing here is legal advice. It is the statute and the county’s own published process, with links so you can read both yourself.
Want it handled instead?
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. Where a state caps recovery fees below that, the cap applies instead.