Almost $18 Million is waiting in a fund at the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court to be dispersed to individuals and families whose homes have been foreclosured upon.  When a home has been foreclosed upon, and the sale or auction price exceeds the amount owed on the mortgage, then the bank owes that surplus to the original owners.

Almost $400,000 has been collected in 2010 from surplus sales, which the clerk is required to hold onto until someone comes forward to claim it.  The difficulty lies in the fact that the last known address for those owed money is typically the property that was foreclosed upon and already has new owners.

As a result of the low number of claimants for this money, the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s Office has created a website where foreclosed-upon individuals and families can check to see if they are entitled to any surplus or equity money following the sale of their old property.

The mortgage surplus search engine is available through the Clerk of the Circuit Court website.