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Northeast

Surplus funds in New York.

When a property in New York sells at a tax sale or a foreclosure sale for more than what was owed, the extra can belong to the former owner. Here is who holds it, the law behind it, and every county office linked so you can check for yourself, free.

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Foreclosure sales here

Judicial, through the courts.

Our fee here

We don't offer paid help in New York. You can claim surplus here yourself, free; see below.

Tax sale surplus

2024 reform (RPTL Art. 11): within 45 days after a tax-foreclosure sale, the enforcing officer reports to the court whether there is a surplus and pays any surplus to the court with that report; within ten days of the report, the officer notifies the former owner (RPTL §1196). Anyone who had an interest in the property before the foreclosure judgment files a claim with that court (RPTL §1197). After a public auction, the sale price is accepted as the property's full value; after a sale that was not public, a claimant can ask the court to recalculate the surplus using a substantially higher full value. For residential property, the proceeding stays open for a former homeowner for at least three years after the sale is confirmed. Surplus no one claims is treated as abandoned but goes to the tax district, not the State Comptroller, so it will not show up in the State's unclaimed-funds search. Some counties, cities and towns that kept their own tax-collection laws are outside Article 11 (RPTL §1104). Court process, attorney-handled.

Foreclosure surplus

Foreclosure type
Judicial
Who holds the surplus

The referee who conducts the sale must pay any surplus into court within five days. It is then held by the county treasurer (in New York City, the Commissioner of Finance).

A claimant files a written notice of claim with the clerk where the report of sale is filed, at any time before the report of sale is confirmed. Then, on the motion to confirm or within three months after, the court (often through a referee) decides who is owed what and orders distribution (RPAPL 1361). Court-held money unclaimed for three years is deemed abandoned (Abandoned Property Law § 600) and is paid to the State Comptroller (§ 602), where it can still be claimed.

Fees and assignments. No statute caps fees for recovering surplus while it is still held by the court. The court, or a referee it appoints, decides every surplus claim, including a claim by anyone who says the owner assigned the surplus to them (RPAPL 1361). Once surplus has passed to the State Comptroller as abandoned property, Abandoned Property Law § 1416 makes any locator agreement invalid if the fee exceeds 15% of the recoverable amount, and it imposes disclosure requirements. New York's distressed property consultant law (Real Property Law § 265-b) does not mention surplus.

Published surplus lists

These official New York pages publish lists or lookups of unclaimed surplus or excess proceeds. If your name or parcel appears, the office that runs the list can tell you how to claim, free.

Lists change often and may be out of date. Checked October 2026.

Claiming it yourself

We don't offer paid help in New York. You can claim surplus here yourself, free.

See the free self-filing steps →

Every New York county office(62)

Surplus is public record. Call the office that held the sale with the parcel or case number; in most places it will confirm whether a surplus exists, how much, and the deadline. Self-filing is free. Each entry links the county's tax office and court clerk where the directory lists them, plus the full set of county offices.

Each dot is a county below. Pick one from the list to see it up close.© OpenStreetMap contributors

Check this yourself

This page is plain-language orientation, not legal advice. Statutes were checked against official sources in October 2026, and county links come from the NETR public-records directory, an independent resource. Laws and county procedures change, so confirm with the office before you rely on any of it. You can always file a claim yourself with no recovery fee (a court or notary may charge a small fee).