Erie County Launches 'Surplus Funds' Website To Help Local Tax-Foreclosed Ex-Homeowners Claim Excess Proceeds From Previously-Conducted Public Auctions

In Erie County, New York, The Buffalo News reports:

• The Erie County Comptroller’s Office has launched new website to help previous property owners claim more than $13 million left from government tax foreclosure auctions.
  
  The page, Surplus Funds, includes a searchable database of the more than 1,300 properties sold by the city and county, dating back to 2009, that netted surpluses. It also provides an overview of the surplus process, necessary steps to filing a claim and downloadable legal forms to expedite the process.
  
  The comptroller is the custodian of all unclaimed money in the county and currently manages a total of $19.1 million, including estate money and mechanic’s liens. But the excess proceeds from property auctions account for the bulk of the money.
  
  Buffalo’s surplus alone totals $11.6 million for more than 1,200 properties and $1.4 million for 76 sold by the county. The average amount is $9,600; the highest is almost $150,000 from the city’s list.
  
  But the law doesn’t require the city or county to give surplus notifications, so foreclosed owners often don’t know they are entitled to excess proceeds from the sale of their properties. Only 11 percent, or $2.56 million, has been claimed for the sale of 153 properties out of 1,368 with surpluses since 2009.

For more, see Website tracks surplus funds from foreclosed property in Erie County.