Straightforward Claims Recovery
Process Who we are Guides
Check if you're owed
Ohio surplus funds · excess proceeds

Getting your money back is hard.

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We make it straightforward.

$0
left over on a $150,000 sale with $90,000 owed. By law, it's yours.
See if you're owed How it works
Who's behind this

A network of local attorneys.

Not a call center, and not a middleman who vanishes after you sign. Your claim is reviewed and filed by licensed attorneys with decades of combined experience in foreclosure and the county courts. You talk to the attorney on your case before you sign a thing.

35+ yrs
combined attorney experience
100s
of Ohio cases with surplus on record
100%
attorney-reviewed & filed
$0
owed up front
The money is real, and it's public

But don't take our word for it.

Each one is a real Ohio case. The home sold for more than was owed, and the leftover, which by law belongs to the former owner, is still sitting unclaimed at the courthouse. The case numbers are public, so look any of them up yourself.

Real Ohio cases, straight off the public record. We shortened the names for privacy, but the case numbers are open, so look any of them up yourself.

Amounts are the surplus recorded at sale. Status reflects our review of public records; a final payout can change after liens, and no recovery is guaranteed.

The part that should worry you

Ohio doesn't hold it forever.

Under Ohio law (ORC 2329.44), once a surplus is turned over to the county treasurer, the former owner has roughly three years to claim it. Miss that window and the money is forfeited to the county for good. No appeal, no exceptions.

We pulled this docket ourselves
$64,439.69

Brian H., Montgomery County (2019 CV 04841). Excess funds deposited with the court in July 2022. Every notice the court mailed him came back "deceased" or "unclaimed." Years later it's still sitting there, and the clock is running.

We pulled this docket ourselves
$21,790.90

A family's heirs, Montgomery County (2018 CV 05729). Deposited February 2020, with notice given only by a newspaper ad no one saw. It has sat untouched ever since, and it's now brushing up against Ohio's forfeiture cutoff.

If your name, or a relative's, is on a case like these, the safest assumption is that the clock is already running.

Check if you're owed

Who's behind this

Real people, doing an unglamorous job well.

Jeremiah Cox, Co-Founder of Straightforward Claims Recovery Jeremiah Cox, Co-Founder

Straightforward Claims Recovery was co-founded by Jeremiah Cox. He spent years in insurance, often sitting with people on the worst day of their lives, and kept running into the same quiet injustice: families who had just lost a home were also losing the money left over when it sold, because the notice went to an address they no longer lived at and no one ever followed up.

So he built the thing that should have already existed. Alongside his co-founders and a team of customer success agents, he pulled together a network of local attorneys to handle the genuinely hard parts of a claim, the motions, the competing liens, the heirship, so that Ohioans who are actually owed this money receive it instead of ceding it to the county.

We're not a faceless letter mill. We're a small team that treats your claim like it's our own money on the line.

Read the founder's story →

The process

How it works.

1

Tell us the basics

Your name, the property, the county. Two minutes, no cost.

2

We verify the funds

We confirm a surplus exists and how much, from records most people don't know to check.

3

The legal work

Distribution motions, competing liens, heirship, county court procedure. This is the part that stops most people cold, and where our attorneys go to work.

4

You get paid

The court signs off and your share is released to you. We track every filing and deadline in between.

Two ways in

Start wherever you are.

You know about the money

You got a notice, or a relative's property sold and you're the heir. Give us the details and we take it from there.

Start a claim

You're not sure yet

Lost a home and never heard whether anything was left over? Tell us where, and we check.

See if I'm owed
Straight answers

We hear these questions quite a bit:

What exactly are surplus funds?

When a home sells at a sheriff's or tax sale for more than the debt owed, the leftover is the surplus. The law says it goes to the former owner or the heirs, not the county and not the buyer. It just sits with the court or the treasurer until someone claims it.

How did I never hear about this money?

Because the notice gets mailed to the house you just lost. It comes back undelivered, you've moved on, and the county files it away. Most people have no idea a dime was left over. That's the whole problem we exist to fix.

Okay, is this a scam? How do I know you're legit?

Smart question, and you should ask it of everyone who contacts you about money. Here's our answer: a licensed attorney reviews and files every claim, we never ask for a penny up front, and we'll show you the public record so you can see the surplus with your own eyes before you commit to anything. Anyone who won't do those three things, walk away from.

Someone reached out to me. How did you get my information?

All of it is public record. When a property sells at a foreclosure or tax auction, the case, the sale price, and the names on it get filed with the county, and anyone can look. We read through those court dockets and county records to find people who are owed leftover money and have no idea it's sitting there. Then we reach out before the deadline hits and the funds get handed over to the state for good. We're not buying lists or digging into anything private. It's the same public file the county keeps, and we're using it to get people back money that's already theirs.

Do I have to pay anything up front?

No. Nothing. We only get paid if you do, out of what's recovered. If there's nothing there, you owe us nothing, and we'll tell you.

What's your fee?

A set percentage of what we actually recover, spelled out in writing before you sign. No recovery, no fee. No hourly bills, no surprises.

Can't I just do this myself?

You can try, and a few people do. But the claim runs through the court, and that's where it gets messy: distribution motions, junior liens that quietly take a cut, proving heirship through an estate, and county rules that change from one courthouse to the next. That's the part our attorneys do every week. Most people who start alone end up stuck.

How long does it take?

It depends on the county and how clean the case is. Some move in a few weeks, others take a few months, especially heir cases. We keep you posted and chase the deadlines so you don't have to.

It was my parent's home, and they've passed. Can I still claim?

Usually, yes. Surplus passes to the heirs. There's some extra paperwork to prove who's entitled, through the estate, but the attorney handles it. Reach out and we'll walk you through it.

Is my personal information safe?

Yes. We use your details only to check and file your claim. We don't sell your information or pass it around.

Is there a deadline?

Usually. Unclaimed surplus is held for a set window and can be forfeited to the state or county after that. Some counties even print a "not available after" date. Sooner beats later.

Can you promise I'll get the money?

No, and be careful with anyone who does. We check first, and if there's nothing worth chasing, we'll say so plainly. When there is, we go get it.

Find out what you're owed.

Checking is free and doesn't commit you to anything.

Check if you're owed