Cook County Has $16 Million In Unclaimed Foreclosure Money

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Cook County has $16 million sitting in a mortgage foreclosure surplus fund and since 2009 the rightful owners of the money have not come forward. Dorothy Brown, the County Clerk, has been working to spread the word that money is waiting to be claimed. Information is on the County's website. Just type in your name and see if you have money owed to you.

The housing crisis and the foreclosure mess has demoralized countless Americans. They fell behind with their mortgages. They couldn't get the lender to work out a loan modification. So they just walked away. Many have moved out of state. They wanted to get as far away as possible. They thinking was, "let the bank deal with the problem. Let them sell the house".

In thousands of cases the banks did just that. They sold the houses at foreclosure auctions, or at bank owned real estate sales. In the majority of cases there is a shortfall. In other words the house is sold for less than what is owed on the mortgage. The $16 million represents a different scenario.

If the house is sold for more than what is owed the homeowner is given the surplus. The bank doesn't get to keep the surplus money. The bank has to notify the circuit court, file the required documents and give a check to the court. The court will contact the homeowners and give them the surplus.

In Cook County there are over 1,900 homeowners and business that have a check waiting for them The amount ranges from thirteen cents to $460,000.

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