Refund of Surplus Money from Foreclosures!

Yesterday the Cook County Circuit Clerk announced that Cook County is holding $18 million dollars in mortgage surplus money. This money has accumulated as a result of profits made when foreclosed homes were sold by the lender who owned them. Approximately 1900 people who were foreclosed, most of whom are probably not aware of it, own this surplus money.

Unfortunately, most of the money is for people who were foreclosed in the early 1990s, up to about 2006 or 2007. Homes foreclosed in the last few years were typically not sold for a profit by the banks, and many remain unsold.

When banks made a profit on foreclosed homes in Cook County, they turned over the money to the Cook County Clerk. While the clerk's office does not track down people whom profits are owed to, it does hold the unclaimed monies for their benefit. When a person makes a successful claim for their money from the clerk's office, they receive not only the profit from the sale, but also any interest earned on those profits.

If you want to see if you qualify for a refund as a result of your foreclosure, call the clerk's office at 312-603-5030, or visit them online here. The clerk's office claims that $1.3 million has already been claimed, and if you are listed as a homeowner who gets a refund, you can get free help from the advice desk connected to the county's foreclosure court.