The two things I check before I touch a tax-sale surplus claim (state deadline + fee

Sharing a small workflow that's saved me from dead ends on excess-proceeds research.

Before I spend any time on a potential surplus, I confirm two state-specific facts, because both can quietly kill a deal:

1. The claim window. It varies a lot by state — FL is only 120 days on a tax-deed surplus, GA is 1 year from the sale, TX is 2 years for the former owner. Miss it and the funds can escheat.

2. Whether a non-attorney can even charge a recovery fee, and the cap. This one trips people up. In Texas, a non-attorney can't charge a fee to recover excess proceeds at all (Tax Code section 34.04) — an attorney is capped at the lesser of 25% or $1,000. Florida caps assignee compensation around 12%. California is the greater of $2,500 or 5%. So the economics are completely different state to state.

Curious how others here qualify a surplus before committing time — do you confirm the deadline first, or the owner first?

(Not legal or financial advice — confirm your state's statute and licensing rules before signing any fee agreement.)

I got tired of re-Googling this, so I built a free side-by-side lookup for all 50 states (no signup, and full disclosure, it's my own tool): https://liensuite.com/tools/surplus-claim-deadline-lookup?utm_source=biggerpockets&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surplus_tools