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Surplus funds in Texas.

When a property in Texas 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

Both judicial and non-judicial.

Our fee here

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

Tax sale surplus

Excess proceeds under Tax Code §34.04: two years from the sale to petition the court. The district clerk must mail the former owner a notice within 30 days if the excess is over $25, and holds the money for two years after the sale (Tax Code §34.03). If no one proves a claim in that time, the clerk distributes it to the taxing units that took part in the sale. At the hearing, the court pays, in order: a purchaser whose sale was voided, later or omitted taxes, other lienholders by priority, any unpaid judgment amounts, and then the former owner. A former owner can claim only if they were a defendant in the tax judgment, are related within the third degree to one, or inherited a defendant's interest (§34.04(c), (c-1)). Assignments are strictly regulated: none before the 36th day after the proceeds are deposited, none resulting from in-person or phone solicitation, and the assignee must pay the owner at least 80% of the claim (§34.04(f)); a court may not pay an assignee more than 125% of what it paid the owner (§34.04(j)). Under §34.04(i) only an attorney may charge a fee to obtain excess proceeds, capped at 25% or $1,000, whichever is less. We don't offer paid help for Texas tax-sale excess; you can petition for it yourself, free, or hire your own attorney and agree their fee with them.

Foreclosure surplus

Foreclosure type
Both
Who holds the surplus

The trustee or substitute trustee who ran the sale. Texas trustee's sales are held at auction between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday of a month (Prop. Code 51.002(a)). The trustee may instead interplead the money or deposit it in a court registry (Bus. & Com. Code 22.006(f)).

For residential trustee sales, the trustee must keep sale funds in a separate account and make reasonable attempts to find the people entitled to them (Bus. & Com. Code 22.006). Texas law sets no claim form for trustee's-sale surplus: the former owner asks the trustee in writing, and if claims compete the trustee can file an interpleader or deposit the money in a court registry, and the court decides (Bus. & Com. Code 22.006(f)). The Property Code sets no specific claim deadline for mortgage surplus; money a holder cannot pay out is generally presumed abandoned after three years and reported to the Texas Comptroller as unclaimed property.

Fees and assignments. No Texas statute specifically caps fees for recovering mortgage/HOA foreclosure surplus; the Tax Code 34.04 limits apply only to tax-sale excess proceeds. If the money is reportable to or held by the Comptroller, Prop. Code 74.507 caps a finder's fee at 10% plus reasonable attorney's fees and bars the finder from filing the claim form. Separately, the trustee may take its own fee from surplus, presumed reasonable up to the lesser of 2.5% or $5,000 plus 1.5% for attorney's fees (Bus. & Com. Code 22.006(d)).

Published surplus lists

These official Texas 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 Texas. You can claim surplus here yourself, free.

See the free self-filing steps →

Every Texas county office(254)

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).