Broward County Surplus Funds: How to Find and Claim Them

If you are hunting for a Broward County surplus funds list, the first thing you need to know is that there is no single list, and the money is not even held by one office. In Broward, foreclosure surplus and tax deed surplus live in two completely different government bodies, run on two different statutes, and die on two different clocks. Most owners and recovery agents lose money because they treat them as one thing. This page keeps them separate, gives you the exact place to look for each, and tells you when the money escheats to the State of Florida.

Where the Broward County surplus funds list actually lives (two offices, not one)

There is no public "foreclosure surplus list" posted anywhere online for Broward. The two tracks are split across two separate agencies:

• Foreclosure surplus (Chapter 45): Held by the Broward Clerk of Courts in the court registry. The Clerk's Finance Division (954-831-6244, https://www.browardclerk.org/AboutUs/Finance) calls it "unclaimed funds" or "court registry funds." You will not find a downloadable list. You locate the money case by case on the Clerk's docket.
• Tax deed surplus (Chapter 197): Held and administered by the County's Records, Taxes and Treasury (RTT) Division, Tax Deed Section at 115 S. Andrews Avenue, Room GC114, Fort Lauderdale FL 33301 (taxdeeds@broward.org, https://www.broward.org/RecordsTaxesTreasury). RTT uses the label "Surplus Funds" or "Claim To Receive Surplus Proceeds of Tax Deed Sale," and sends a certified Notice of Surplus to interested parties.

This split is the single biggest trap in Broward. If you call the Clerk about tax deed money, they will not have it. If you mail the County about a foreclosure case, wrong office. Match the office to the sale type first.

How to find the case in Broward (docket and auction portals)

Foreclosure track. Pull the case on the Broward Clerk of Courts public Case Search / docket at browardclerk.org, under the Circuit Civil division (https://www.browardclerk.org/Divisions/CircuitCivil). The sale itself runs on the Clerk's online auction portal at broward.realforeclose.com (RealAuction). You confirm a surplus exists by reading the docket for the certificate of disbursements and the clerk's filings after the sale, not from any posted list.

Tax deed track. A tax deed property is identified by its Tax Deed File No. and Folio No. Auctions historically ran on broward.deedauction.net, but Broward is moving tax deed sales off DeedAuction onto RealAuction. The old deedauction.net portal now carries a notice that tax deed sales will no longer be conducted there. Confirm the current portal at broward.org/recordstaxestreasury or email taxdeedclerk@broward.org before you assume where a sale is happening.

The two Florida clocks, side by side (never lump them)

This is where statute accuracy is the whole game. Broward runs two surplus tracks under two different chapters, with two different triggers. Do not merge them.

Foreclosure surplus - Chapter 45

• Sec. 45.032 defines the owner of record as the owner on the date the lis pendens was filed, and sets a rebuttable presumption that this owner is entitled to the surplus remaining after senior and subordinate lienholders are paid.
• The owner-of-record claim window runs out to roughly the one-year mark after the sale. After that, unclaimed surplus is presumed abandoned under sec. 717.113 and remitted to the State.
• Sec. 45.033 is a separate 60-day deadline, and it is not the owner's deadline to claim. It is the deadline to file a voluntary assignment or transfer of surplus rights, measured from the filing of the clerk's certificate of disbursements. It carries a hard 12% cap on what an assignee or purchaser can be paid, plus mandatory disclosures including the line that "the owner does not need an attorney or other representative to recover surplus funds."

So under Chapter 45 you have two clocks at once: the ~1-year owner window (sec. 45.032 / escheat under 717.113) and the 60-day assignment-filing clock (sec. 45.033). They are not the same deadline.

Tax deed surplus - Chapter 197

• This is a wholly separate track. Governing chain: sec. 197.502 (application and notice), sec. 197.582 (disbursement of proceeds and surplus), sec. 197.581 (review period).
• Per Broward's official instructions (Rev. 11/4/2022), tax deed surplus is held 120 days beginning on the date of the certified Notice of Surplus - not the sale date. Claims filed after 120 days are barred.
• Under sec. 197.581, the Tax Deed Section then has 90 days after that 120-day deadline to review claims and determine distribution.

Bottom line: the 60-day Chapter 45 assignment-filing deadline and the 120-day Chapter 197 tax deed claim window are different statutes, different offices, and different triggers. Anyone who quotes you "the 60-day rule" for a tax deed surplus is wrong.

Who gets paid, and where the money goes if no one claims it

Lien priority. In both tracks, senior mortgages and liens are paid in full first, before any junior lien or the former owner sees a dollar.

• Foreclosure (Ch. 45): Subordinate lienholders who file a timely claim are paid next, then the owner of record collects the remainder under the sec. 45.032 rebuttable presumption.
• Tax deed (Ch. 197): RTT must pay all valid liens (senior first, then junior) before any distribution to the former titleholder, following the order of interests in sec. 197.502(4), excluding the governmental lienholders described in sec. 197.502(4)(h).

Escheat destination. If the money is never claimed:

• Foreclosure (Ch. 45): One year after the sale, any surplus the Clerk still holds is presumed unclaimed under sec. 717.113 and must be reported and remitted to the Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Unclaimed Property, per secs. 717.117 and 717.119.
• Tax deed (Ch. 197): Unclaimed surplus escheats to the State of Florida after the claim window closes, and RTT directs claimants to the same DFS Unclaimed Property pathway for stale funds.

The Broward quirk that costs people money

Beyond the two-office split, Broward has a documentation trap on the tax deed side. Tax deed claims require original, wet-signature, notarized documents delivered by mail or in person. Broward will not accept the surplus affidavit by email, and you must return the certified Original Notice of Surplus with your claim. So even if you are inside the 120-day window, an emailed or photocopied claim gets you nothing. Plan for physical delivery of originals to Room GC114.

And again, do not search for a posted foreclosure surplus list, because Broward does not publish one. You work the Clerk docket and broward.realforeclose.com, period.

Broward County surplus funds FAQ

Is there a public Broward County surplus funds list I can download? No. Broward does not post a foreclosure surplus list. You find foreclosure surplus case by case on the Clerk's Circuit Civil docket at browardclerk.org and on the auction portal broward.realforeclose.com. Tax deed surplus is tracked separately by the County RTT Tax Deed Section by File No. and Folio No.

Who holds Broward surplus funds, the Clerk or the County? Both, depending on the sale. Foreclosure surplus sits with the Broward Clerk of Courts Finance Division (954-831-6244) in the court registry. Tax deed surplus is held by the County's Records, Taxes and Treasury Division, Tax Deed Section, at 115 S. Andrews Avenue, Room GC114, taxdeeds@broward.org.

What is the deadline to claim a tax deed surplus in Broward? 120 days, and it starts on the date of the certified Notice of Surplus, not the sale date (Broward instructions Rev. 11/4/2022). Claims filed after 120 days are barred. Under sec. 197.581, the Tax Deed Section then has 90 days to review claims and determine distribution.

Is the foreclosure surplus deadline also 60 days? No. Do not lump them. The 60-day clock under sec. 45.033 is only the deadline to file a voluntary assignment of surplus rights, measured from the clerk's certificate of disbursements, and it caps assignee compensation at 12%. The owner-of-record claim under sec. 45.032 runs to roughly the one-year mark before the money escheats under sec. 717.113.

Where does unclaimed Broward surplus go? To the State of Florida. Foreclosure surplus is remitted to the Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Unclaimed Property, one year after the sale under secs. 717.113, 717.117 and 717.119. Unclaimed tax deed surplus escheats to the State and follows the same DFS pathway.

Can I email my Broward tax deed surplus claim? No. Broward requires original, wet-signature, notarized documents by mail or in person, and you must return the certified Original Notice of Surplus with the claim. Emailed or photocopied affidavits are rejected even inside the 120-day window. Deliver originals to RTT, Room GC114, Fort Lauderdale FL 33301.

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