Tax Deed Surplus Funds
When a county auctions a property for unpaid property taxes and the winning bid exceeds what was owed, the extra money is surplus. Unlike foreclosure surplus, this claim has a hard deadline.
Florida law gives you 120 days from the date on the clerk's notice to file a notarized statement of claim. If that window closes without a claim on file, the statute says the right to the surplus is waived and forever barred — there is no appeal and no extension.
What happens after the auction
- Governmental liens (other unpaid taxes, code-enforcement liens) are paid first out of the surplus.
- The clerk mails a notice to everyone with a recorded interest in the property — including the former titleholder.
- That notice starts the 120-day claim window.
- Within 90 days after the window closes, the clerk pays out the surplus by priority, or files an interpleader action in court if there's a dispute.
The claim isn't necessarily gone for good — but it changes tracks
Missing the 120-day window bars a direct claim with the clerk. In many cases the funds are then processed under Florida's unclaimed property law and eventually reported to the Florida Department of Financial Services, where they can potentially still be recovered as a state-held unclaimed property claim — a slower, separate process with its own rules.
Received a tax deed surplus notice?
Tell us the date on your notice so we can flag the urgency and review your claim right away — free of charge.