Homeowners whose property was sold at a sheriff sale due to foreclosure or back taxes at a price more than the amount owed are owed a refund of the excess money.
Sheriff Jewell Williams said there is no need for former property owners to engage the services of someone who will charge a finder’s fee to apply for the refund.
So far in 2019, $2.45 million was recovered and returned to property owners by the sheriff’s office Defendant Asset Recovery Team.
“Why pay a finder’s fee for money that is legally due to you? It is traumatic to lose your home and if you do, you shouldn’t have to give away money that rightfully belongs to you and your family,” Williams said. “We have made it simple to get money that is due to you as a former homeowner.”
Last year, DART returned nearly $3.8 million to owners of record. In the last seven years, the sheriff’s office has returned $19.8 million in excess funds to property owners.
“There is no need to have someone take advantage of distressed homeowners,” said Denean Hardy, director of the DART unit. “If your house is going to sheriff’s sale, you are already under financial duress. And on top of everything, you are giving up scarce and precious dollars that could be used elsewhere at a very sensitive time in your life.”
Williams has made it a priority to search out those owed money by enhancing the efforts of the DART unit.
To find out if you are owed money on a property you lost in a sheriff sale, go to phillysheriff.com/en/real-estate/dart and click on the “File a Claim” button to download a DART claim form. Completed forms should be mailed to DART Unit, Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office, 100 S. Broad St., 5th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19110.
