I declared bankruptcy about 8 years ago and my house was foreclosed on. I received a letter in the mail today from The National Unclaimed Property Fund, INC. stating that the house was sold at auction for more than what was owed and I am due money back
Has anyone else had any experience with this? Is this legitimate or just some mass mailer trying to hook people into something?
If I am owed money, is there some way I can claim it myself? I did some google searches and there are many sites that claim they can help you get the money back, but I am not going to start posting personal info on random websites.
Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Thanks for the info. I checked my name (and my ex wifes) against some of the site listed below but found no matches. I was able to locate some state forms for unclaimed property online so I may try that route. If not, I may just contact my bankruptcy lawyer and see what he thinks.
FYI - The letter I recevied claims I am owed $3,856.97 - Any less and I would have just tossed it.
July 24th, 2010 at 12:41 am
You can claim it yourself. Do a search at the following link:
The mailer you got is for a fee based service, but you can do it yourself.
July 26th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Scam.
Be VERY careful!
Think about it, if there were REALLY any money “owed back to you” it would belong to your creditors (the ones who lost out when you filed), would it not?
July 28th, 2010 at 8:07 am
Contact your state controllers office and he’ll tell you what site to go to. It is legit.
July 30th, 2010 at 6:40 am
Yes you can claim it yourself, Contact your prior lender and find out about their payoff on your loan. Have your loan number if possible.
August 1st, 2010 at 11:41 pm
If the house sold for more than the foreclosed debt, the lender is supposed to return it to you. Check with the escheats section of your local state treasury department which is where it would go if the lender coudn’t find you.
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:12 pm
If you were foreclosed on and there was a surplus of funds after paying all costs, late fees, attorney’s fees etc. Then the extra money is owed to you.
You should be able to contact the foreclosing attorney or trustee on your own to start the process of recovering your money. Different states have different requirements on how unclaimed money is handled. California recently lost a court case and has had to substantially alter their procedures instead of just sweeping it into the public coffers.
So the money may be there - You could also sign up for a prepaid legal account. I think they are something like $20 bucks a month and talk to an attorney from your state familiar with their laws.
Good Luck - you may have a nice bonus coming!
August 6th, 2010 at 12:52 am
You don’t need an attorney, and it may or may not be a scam. If you owe $10k, and the place sells for $15k, they take out the expenses and you get the rest.
The property was almost certainly abandoned by the bankruptcy court as worthless, or at least not worth their time. Your bankruptcy is dismissed I assume by now… so you get some money, by mistake or whatever doesn’t matter the asset was abandoned by the court.
The question is, where is the money? Try the state department of unclaimed funds where the property was located. If it isn’t there, try the next state you lived in; could also be with the state the mortgage company is located in.
There are many good, and free, places to check. - and are ran by the state angencies and are free.
There is a slim possibility the money is in an obscure county courthouse account if you have judicial foreclosure. Also, the check may have your bankruptcy lawyer’s name, or some other party on it in addition to your name. 95% of the time they have no claim to the money, be very careful, many people will try to claim that you owe them for whatever… even some large firms did this and get popped by the regulators for it from time to time. The bankruptcy is over, they all had time to get theirs, they screwed up. You may need to get a copy of your bankruptcy discharge paper.
Don’t endorse you check then send it in the mail to someone to sign. They can sign it and return it to you, certified mail. Make a photo copy of it before you send it away. If it gets “lost” follow up to see if it was cashed by the other party.
Before you get too excited - your check probably isn’t for very much, although once in a while people get lucky.
August 9th, 2010 at 4:01 am
Call the courthouse in the county in which the property was located. All of the foreclosure auctions are confirmed by the court, so they’ll have the exact figures of how much the property sold for and what the final judgment was at the time of sale.
Otherwise, call the county sheriffs department, since they are the ones who conduct the sale. They may keep records of judgment amounts and final offers on the properties they sell.
If there was an unclaimed balance, you will most likely have to claim it with the courthouse, since the proceeds of the sale are given to them before being released to the creditors and owners. If anyone knows if you have money and what happened to it, the courts will know.
Good luck.
ForeclosureFish