How to check if you're owed surplus funds in Ohio
You don't have to take anyone's word for this, including ours. Every dollar of surplus sits in public records you can look at yourself. Here's how to do it, county by county, without paying a cent.
1. Nail down the basics of the sale
You'll want three things: the property address, the county it's in, and roughly when it sold. A court case number helps a lot if you have one, but you can get by without it. If you're checking on a parent's property, the address and county are usually enough to start.
2. Look up the court case
Most Ohio counties put their court records online. Search the clerk of courts site for the county where the property sits, by name or case number. Montgomery County uses the Pro system at pro.mcohio.org. Butler County has its portal through the clerk's eServices. You're looking for the foreclosure case and, inside it, any entry about a sale confirmation and a deposit of surplus or excess funds with the clerk.
If you see the property sold for more than the judgment amount, that gap is your surplus.
3. Check the county's unclaimed-funds list
This is the shortcut most people miss. When surplus goes unclaimed, it lands on a county list, often kept by the treasurer or clerk and titled something like "unclaimed funds" or "excess proceeds." Butler County, for instance, publishes an excess-proceeds list with names, case numbers, amounts, and a "not available after" date. Search it for your name or the former owner's name.
See a "not available after" date next to your case? That's your deadline. After it passes, the money can be forfeited. Don't sit on it.
4. Don't forget the state
If a surplus was never claimed and the holding period ran out, the money may have been turned over to the Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Unclaimed Funds. Their site lets you search by name for free. It's worth a look for older sales, though the surplus-recovery process there is different from claiming it while it's still with the county.
What to do once you find something
If you turn up a surplus with your name on it, you've confirmed the important part: the money is real. From there you can file the claim yourself, or have someone handle the court process for you. Heir cases in particular get technical fast, since you have to prove who's entitled through an estate.
Either way, start with the records above. Anyone who tells you not to check them yourself is telling you something about themselves.
Don't feel like digging through court portals? Give us the property and county and we'll check all of it for you.
General information about Ohio public records and surplus funds, not legal advice. Claims we handle are reviewed and filed by a licensed Ohio attorney.