If your Hillsborough 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 seatTampa, Florida · Tampa Bay region
Office holding the surplusHillsborough County Clerk of the Circuit Court
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.
How claims are acceptedBy mail only. This county does not accept walk-in or electronic filing of the surplus affidavit — which matters when a deadline is close, because the postmark is what counts.
Clerk’s disbursement fee$10.00 for the first $100 or fraction thereof — deducted before you are paid, under F.S. §28.24.
Phone(813) 276-8100 ext. 7805
“You may claim surplus funds free of charge, paying a fee or percentage of the surplus for assistance from a third party is not required to submit this affidavit.”
— Hillsborough County Clerk of the Circuit Court, in its own words
We quote that because it is true and you should know it before you talk to anybody, us included. Self-filing is free. Most people who come to us do so because their case has friction — probate, competing liens, an out-of-state notarization, a rejected filing — not because the form itself is hard.
Filing it yourself, step by step
Confirm the surplus exists and get the notice date. Call or write the Hillsborough County Clerk of the Circuit Court 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.
Send it to the right desk. Not general Clerk intake — the tax deeds unit:
Clerk of the Circuit Court Attn: Tax Deeds Legal 419 Pierce Street, Room 140 Tampa, FL 33602
Confirm receipt. Ask the Clerk to acknowledge the filing in writing, and keep the postmark. If the claim is contested you will need both.
This county will work with a representative.
The Clerk publishes an explicit intake path for third-party asset recovery companies, which means a representative can submit on your behalf if the paperwork is right. It also means the Clerk is looking at that paperwork closely.
“If you are a third party asset recovery company, please include documentation substantiating the contractual relationship between yourself and the titleholder/lienholder (with a legible copy of your and their government issued photo identification).”
— Hillsborough County Clerk of the Circuit Court
What trips people up in Hillsborough County
Two different affidavits exist. Sales on or after August 15, 2019 use the Claim Affidavit for Tax Deed Excess Proceeds; earlier sales use the older Affidavit to Claim Surplus Proceeds of a Tax Deed Sale. Filing the wrong one costs time you may not have.
Neither Hillsborough affidavit cites F.S. §197.582 by number, unlike Duval's, so the statutory basis is not on the form you sign.
Titleholders must include a legible copy of government-issued photo identification. Lienholders must attach a payoff statement or affidavit of indebtedness proving the amount due and that they are the current holder.
Estate claims require a Summary Administration Order or a Disposition of Personal Property without Administration Order under Chapter 735.
Hillsborough publishes no interpleader procedure, no competing-claims process and no priority waterfall — unusual for a county of its size. With multiple lien categories in play, budget for the possibility that the Clerk interpleads and that court costs come out of the surplus.
The Florida rules behind all of this
These apply statewide, not just in Hillsborough 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.