When real property is sold at a county tax deed auction for an amount higher than the delinquent tax judgment, court costs, and penalties, the remaining funds are deemed Excess Proceeds / Tax Overbid Surplus. By law, these funds belong to the former property owner or their legal heirs, but remain deposited in the county court registry until formally petitioned.

• Texas (Tax Code § 34.04): 2 years from the date the deed is recorded (1 year if owner did not reside in property).
• California (Rev & Tax Code § 4675): 1 year from the date the tax deed to the purchaser is recorded.
• Florida (Fla. Stat. § 197.582): 1 year from the date the clerk mails the notice of surplus.
• Georgia (O.C.G.A. § 48-4-5): 5 years before escheatment to the general county fund.
• Arizona (A.R.S. § 42-18205): 3 years from the date of the treasurer's sale.

Several states regulate third-party asset recovery fee percentages. For example, Texas and Florida require written disclosure and limit contingency agreements to statutory caps (typically 10% to 25% depending on whether an attorney or third-party locator prepares the petition). SurplusFinder's CRM automatically computes compliant fee agreements.

If the record owner has passed away, excess proceeds do not vanish. The funds transfer to the decedent's probate estate or living heirs through intestate succession laws. Recovery agents submit an Affidavit of Heirship, Letters Testamentary, or a Small Estate Affidavit along with the court registry petition to disburse proceeds to the lawful descendants.

The skip-tracing pipeline cross-references county deed grantor/grantee records, tax assessor historical addresses, probate court dockets, and national consumer identity graphs. It yields verified primary mobile numbers, active mailing addresses, and identified relatives.

The CRM moves cases through 5 standard lifecycle phases: (1) Lead Identified, (2) Claimant Contacted, (3) Contract & POA Signed, (4) Court Petition Filed, and (5) Funds Disbursed & Fee Collected. Each stage updates expected revenue KPIs and logs timestamps in SQLite WAL.

When you add a county watchlist with a minimum dollar threshold (e.g. Harris County overages > $10,000), our background harvesters monitor auction reconciliation records daily. As soon as a matching overage is verified, a real-time JSON webhook payload is dispatched to your configured endpoint.

The outreach generator positions the claimant's name and address within exact millimetric coordinates (top 2.25 inches, left 0.875 inches) so printed letters fold into tri-fold sheets and align cleanly through standard USPS #10 left-window envelopes without manual label printing.

Under statutory priority rules, superior mortgage lienholders and recorded judgment creditors have first right to petition the registry. If no lienholders file within statutory notice periods (or if debts are satisfied), 100% of remaining funds disburse to the former title owner.

The Claim Kit compiles state-specific legal instruments: (1) Formal Verified Petition for Release of Excess Proceeds, (2) Limited Power of Attorney & Contingency Agreement, (3) Affidavit of Identity & Non-Foreign Status, and (4) County Registry Filing Instructions.

Disbursement timing depends on court docket speed. Uncontested petitions generally receive a signed judicial disbursement order within 30 to 60 days. The county clerk then issues a cashier's check or wire transfer to the claimant or designated attorney escrow account.

For excess proceeds exceeding $50,000, partnering with a title insurance and escrow partner (such as First American Title) provides formal title searches to guarantee no hidden federal tax liens (IRS 26 U.S.C. § 6323) exist prior to petition filing.

Yes. Clicking Export CSV downloads a standardized spreadsheet containing Case Number, APN, Property Address, County, Excess Amount, Owner Name, Deed Date, and Statutory Expiration Date, formatted for instant CSV mapping in Podio, HubSpot, or REI Reply.

In Tax Deed states (e.g. Texas, California, Georgia, Florida), properties are sold outright at auction, frequently producing excess overbids. In Tax Lien states (e.g. Arizona, New Jersey), investors purchase the tax certificate, and excess proceeds only arise during subsequent judicial foreclosure sales.

All CRM claims, claimant notes, contract terms, and skip-trace dossiers are persisted in SQLite Write-Ahead Logging (WAL) tables at products/surplus_finder/surplus_finder.db, ensuring ACID compliance and instant local retrieval.

1. Filter the Tax Overbid Registry for overages above $10,000 in your target state.
2. Run Skip-Trace to obtain current verified phone numbers and heir addresses.
3. Send a formal outreach letter via the Direct Mail Studio.
4. Move the deal to Contacted in the CRM, execute the contingency agreement, and file the statutory petition with the county clerk.