After a foreclosure or tax sale, the county may be holding money that's legally yours.
What are surplus funds?
When a property sells at a foreclosure auction or a tax sale for more than the debts owed, the leftover money is called surplus funds (or excess proceeds, or tax-sale overage — different counties use different words). The county, court, or trustee holds that money until someone files a valid claim.
The money may belong to the former property owner, an heir, or a junior lienholder — not the buyer of the property. People often don't know it exists because notices get lost in the mail, get sent to the old address, or get thrown away as junk.
In this example, the former owner (or their heir, or in some cases a junior lienholder) may be entitled to claim the $45,000. The buyer of the property doesn't get it. The county doesn't keep it forever — but if no one claims it within the statute period, it eventually escheats to the state.
How would I know if I'm owed money?
A notice from the county or court
Counties are usually required to mail notice to the last-known address — which is often the old address. People miss these all the time.
A relative or neighbor tells you
Heirs especially find out this way, often years after a parent or grandparent lost a property.
A research company contacts you
This is legitimate but is also where bad actors live. We hold ourselves to a written compliance standard — see /compliance.
You call the county directly
Tax assessor, county clerk, district clerk, or sheriff’s office can usually tell you if surplus is being held under a property. This is free.
Is this a scam? How are you different?
Surplus funds are real and the recovery process is legitimate. The industry, unfortunately, has bad actors. Here is how we operate, in writing, on every page.
We will never…
- Demand your Social Security Number, bank account, or government ID through the website
- Tell you that you must use a third party to claim funds
- Guarantee you a recovery or quote an exact dollar amount before review
- Imply we are affiliated with the county, state, or any government body
- Pressure you to sign anything before an attorney has reviewed the file
- Handle your money directly — funds always flow through a reviewing attorney or escrow
- Provide legal advice — we are not a law firm
We will always…
- Tell you that you can contact the county yourself, at no cost
- Send every potential claim to a licensed attorney for review before outreach
- Explain our fee in writing and only collect if funds are successfully recovered
- Document our sources — you can see the public record we built the case on
- Use written consent and clear, plain-English engagement language
- Treat your situation with discretion and care, especially in heir or post-foreclosure cases
What happens after I contact you?
Initial intake
A short, no-pressure conversation. We confirm public-record details, never ask for sensitive identifiers.
Public-record build
We assemble the file: deed history, sale records, court ledger, lien search. You can see our sources.
Eligibility triage
We assess your role (former owner, heir, lienholder) and timing window.
Attorney review
Every potential claim goes to a licensed attorney for review and — if appropriate — filing.
Claim support
The attorney files. We support documentation. Funds flow through the attorney or proper escrow.
Can I just contact the county myself?
Yes. You can. And we honestly recommend it if you have time, patience for paperwork, and the records to back up your claim.
Counties don't charge you to ask. Try the county clerk, district clerk, tax assessor, or sheriff's office, depending on the type of sale. They'll usually tell you whether surplus is held under a property and what their filing process looks like.
Halos Over Houses is for situations where the deadlines, heir documentation, or sheer volume of paperwork feel like more than you want to handle alone — or where the case benefits from a clean, attorney-reviewed file. We will never tell you that you must use a third party.
What we ask for. What we won't.
Our intake is deliberately minimal. Sensitive identifiers are collected later, by the reviewing attorney, through secure channels — not by us, and not through this website.
What we do ask
- Your name and how to reach you
- The property address tied to the sale
- Your role (former owner, heir, lienholder)
- Approximate sale year (if you know it)
- How you found out about a possible claim
What we never ask online
- Social Security Number
- Bank account or routing numbers
- Driver’s license, passport, or other government IDs
- Tax records or W-2s
- Photos of sensitive identity documents
Do I need an attorney?
In many surplus-funds cases an attorney is either required by the court or strongly recommended for actually filing the claim and ensuring the order is enforceable.
Halos Over Houses is not a law firm. Our role is research and intake. The legal filing is handled by an independently licensed attorney we route the file to, after their review.
If you already have an attorney you trust, we are happy to send the evidence packet directly to them. We don't require you to use ours.
Soft pre-screener — no pressure.
A few quick questions. A plain-English signal. No guarantees, no legal advice, no sensitive data requested.
Claimant questions, answered.
Tiered, plain, no surprises.
The percentage gets smaller as the claim gets larger. We only collect if funds are successfully recovered. No upfront costs. Fees are written into a plain-English engagement letter before any work is done.
Tiered fee structure
Only collected if funds are successfully recovered. No upfront cost.
| Claim amount | Service fee |
|---|---|
| Under $5,000 | 35% |
| $5,001 – $15,000 | 30% |
| $15,001 – $50,000 | 25% |
| $50,001 – $100,000 | 20% |
| Over $100,000 | Custom — contact us |
People helping people.
“I got a letter saying I might have money from my old house. I almost threw it away. Halos walked me through everything, sent the file to a real attorney before they even called me, and never asked for my social or bank info. Months later, the check came through the attorney's office.”
“What I appreciate is the boundary. I'm the attorney, they're the researchers. The evidence packets are clean, the chain of title is documented, and they don't push timelines. That's rare in this space.”
“My mother passed and we didn't know there was surplus from the tax sale. The team explained heir documentation in plain language and never made us feel rushed.”
“I asked them point blank, 'Why shouldn't I just call the county myself?' They told me I could — and explained exactly how. That honesty is why I hired them.”
“I review surplus claims for several small firms. Halos's documentation is the most consistent I've seen. Less back-and-forth, fewer holes in the record.”
“After the foreclosure I felt embarrassed and didn't think anyone would help. They didn't pressure me. They didn't ask for anything sensitive over the phone. Just a real, calm process.”