Miami-Dade County Surplus Funds List: How to Find and Claim Foreclosure Overbid Money

If you are hunting for a Miami-Dade County surplus funds list, the first honest thing to know is that an official one does not exist. The Miami-Dade Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller does not publish a standalone "surplus list" the way some Florida counties imply. Surplus is read off the individual case file, one Certificate of Disbursements at a time. Any "Miami-Dade surplus funds list" you find online is a private aggregator product, not a government source. This page walks the real mechanics: where the clerk speaks to surplus, how to pull the docket, both Florida statute tracks side by side, and the deadlines that actually decide who gets paid.

The official Miami-Dade County surplus funds source (and what it calls the money)

The clerk's foreclosure landing page is here: https://www.miamidadeclerk.gov/clerk/mortgage-foreclosures.page.

Miami-Dade uses the term "surplus funds" for foreclosure overbid money. The exact heading on the clerk's materials is "Homeowners Rights to Surplus Foreclosure Sale Proceeds," and the site language reads: "You, as the former homeowner, may be eligible to file a claim for any surplus funds." There is no separate branded "excess proceeds" or "unclaimed" list for the Chapter 45 mortgage track. Surplus is read off the case file, not a standalone list page.

The tax side is handled separately. The clerk's Tax Deed Unit handles surplus from tax deed sales (commonly called "tax deed surplus") under a different statute and a different page: https://www.miamidadeclerk.gov/clerk/property-tax-deeds.page. Do not mix the two. They are different clocks with different claimants.

How to pull a Miami-Dade case file and read the surplus

There is no dedicated surplus lookup portal in Miami-Dade. You read surplus off the individual case file. Here is the workflow that works:

1. Mortgage foreclosure (Chapter 45) cases. Search the Civil/Family/Probate Court Online System at https://www2.miamidadeclerk.gov/ocs/ by case number or party name. Open the document titled "Certificate of Disbursements." That document shows the sale amount, every disbursement paid to lienholders, and the surplus balance remaining. That balance is the number you care about.
2. Auction-level detail. Both mortgage foreclosure and tax deed auction properties and case files are reviewable on the online auction site https://www.miamidade.realforeclose.com/. Miami-Dade has run online bidding through this RealAuction-based platform since January 2010.
3. Lien and encumbrance research. Run the Official Records lien search at https://onlineservices.miamidadeclerk.gov/officialrecords?source=MFS to confirm lis pendens, subordinate mortgages, judgment liens, and assessment liens before you assume the owner walks away with the whole balance.
4. Phone, when the file is unclear. The clerk directs claimants to call the Foreclosure Unit at (305) 275-1155.

Advanced docket access is free and complies with Florida Supreme Court electronic-records standards. Bulk Official Records searches cost $1.00 per search unit, so budget for that if you are running volume.

The two Florida statute tracks, side by side (never lumped)

This is where most people lose money. Miami-Dade surplus runs on two separate statutory clocks. They are never the same clock, and confusing them is the fastest way to miss a deadline.

Chapter 45 - Mortgage foreclosure surplus

Surplus under this track is the money left after all disbursements in the final judgment, per the Certificate of Disbursements (sec. 45.032). Priority of payment works like this:

• The foreclosing plaintiff is paid first out of the sale proceeds. This payment does not come out of "surplus," it comes off the top.
• Subordinate lienholders shown in the pleadings claim next, in their recorded priority order. That includes subordinate mortgages, judgment liens, tax warrants, assessment liens, and construction or HOA liens.
• The owner of record as of the lis pendens filing has a rebuttable-presumption right to whatever remains after the subordinate liens are satisfied.

Chapter 197 - Tax deed surplus

Tax deed surplus is governed by sec. 197.582 and is disbursed by priority of claims. Governmental liens and recorded interests are addressed before the former titleholder. The clerk's attorney either pays per priority or files an interpleader action if claims conflict. This is a completely separate process from the Chapter 45 mortgage track, with its own notice and its own deadline.

Escheat: where unclaimed Miami-Dade surplus actually goes

The destination of unclaimed money is also split by track.

Chapter 45 track. One year after the foreclosure sale, any surplus still held by the clerk that has not been disbursed is presumed unclaimed and must be reported and remitted to the Florida Department of Financial Services (Unclaimed Property) under sec. 45.032(3)(b) and Ch. 717. After that remittance, only the owner of record (or a deceased owner's beneficiaries) may claim it from DFS. Subordinate lienholders lose their window once the money leaves the clerk. A surplus of less than $10 escheats to the clerk.

Chapter 197 track. Under sec. 197.582, parties who receive mailed notice have 120 days from that notice to file a written claim. Non-owner claimants who miss the 120 days permanently forfeit. If the surplus is unclaimed, the clerk processes it as unclaimed property under Ch. 717 and remits it to the state. The clerk's attorney has 90 days after the claim period to pay per priority or to interplead.

Keep the deadlines straight (this is the edge)

Three numbers, three different jobs. Do not blend them:

• ~1 year (sec. 45.032). The owner window on the mortgage track. After this, undisbursed surplus is reported and remitted to DFS.
• 60 days (sec. 45.033). A different deadline entirely. This is the cutoff to FILE a voluntary written assignment of surplus rights with the court, measured from the filing of the Certificate of Disbursements. Sec. 45.033 also caps a recovery agent's total compensation at 12 percent of the surplus, and the assignment must be in writing, with financial disclosures and a statement that the owner does not need an attorney.
• ~120 days from mailed notice (sec. 197.582). The tax deed track, with a separate 90-day clerk disbursement or interpleader period. This is not Chapter 45, and it is not the 60-day assignment rule.

Do not confuse the 60-day assignment-filing deadline with the 1-year escheat and claim window. They are different statutes solving different problems.

The Miami-Dade quirk operators need to know

Miami-Dade runs one of the highest-volume auction pipelines in Florida and has used online bidding since January 2010 through https://www.miamidade.realforeclose.com/, which carries both mortgage foreclosure and tax deed sales on the same RealAuction-based platform. As of mid-June 2026, third-party aggregators were showing roughly 153 properties with estimated mortgage-foreclosure surplus, and foreclosure inventory in the six figures (one tracker listed 117,267 Miami-Dade foreclosure properties as of 12/20/24).

Here is the operator-relevant catch: there is NO official clerk-published surplus list you can pull. The clerk directs claimants to phone the Foreclosure Unit at (305) 275-1155 and to read surplus off each case's Certificate of Disbursements in the Civil/Family/Probate Court Online System. So any "Miami-Dade surplus list" circulating online is a private aggregator's product, assembled from the same case files you can read yourself, not a government source. Treat those lists as a starting point at best, and always verify the number against the actual Certificate of Disbursements.

Miami-Dade County surplus funds FAQ

Is there an official Miami-Dade County surplus funds list? No. The Miami-Dade Clerk does not publish a standalone surplus list for the Chapter 45 mortgage track. Surplus is read off each case's Certificate of Disbursements in the Civil/Family/Probate Court Online System. Any "surplus list" online is a private aggregator product, not a government source.

Where do I actually find the surplus amount on a Miami-Dade case? Open the Civil/Family/Probate Court Online System at https://www2.miamidadeclerk.gov/ocs/, search by case number or party name, then open the "Certificate of Disbursements." It shows the sale amount, all disbursements, and the surplus balance remaining (sec. 45.032).

How long does the former owner have to claim mortgage foreclosure surplus? On the Chapter 45 track, the owner window runs to roughly one year after the sale. After that, undisbursed surplus is remitted to the Florida Department of Financial Services under sec. 45.032(3)(b) and Ch. 717, where only the owner or a deceased owner's beneficiaries may claim it.

What is the 60-day deadline I keep reading about? That is sec. 45.033, a different clock. It is the cutoff to FILE a voluntary written assignment of surplus rights with the court, measured from the filing of the Certificate of Disbursements. The same statute caps a recovery agent's compensation at 12 percent of the surplus.

How is tax deed surplus different in Miami-Dade? Tax deed surplus runs under Ch. 197, sec. 197.582, handled by the clerk's Tax Deed Unit, not the Foreclosure Unit. Claimants who receive mailed notice have 120 days to file a written claim. The clerk's attorney then has 90 days to pay per priority or file interpleader.

Who gets paid first out of Miami-Dade surplus? The foreclosing plaintiff is paid off the top, not from surplus. Then subordinate lienholders in recorded priority order (subordinate mortgages, judgment liens, tax warrants, assessment, construction or HOA liens). The owner of record as of lis pendens has a rebuttable-presumption right to what remains (sec. 45.032).

How much does it cost to research a Miami-Dade case? Advanced docket access in the Civil/Family/Probate Court Online System is free and complies with Florida Supreme Court electronic-records standards. Bulk Official Records lien searches cost $1.00 per search unit. The Foreclosure Unit phone line is (305) 275-1155.

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