Money realized from a foreclosure sale shall be made available for obligation and expenditure—

(1) first to cover the costs of foreclosure provided for in section 3711 of this title;

(2) then to pay valid tax liens or assessments prior to the mortgage;

(3) then to pay any liens recorded prior to the recording of the mortgage which are required to be paid in conformity with the terms of sale in the notice of default and foreclosure sale;

(4) then to service charges and advancements for taxes, assessments, and property insurance premiums;

(5) then to the interest;

(6) then to the principal balance secured by the mortgage (including expenditures for the necessary protection, preservation, and repair of the security property as authorized under the mortgage agreement and interest thereon if provided for in the mortgage agreement); and

(7) then to late charges.


Any surplus after payment of the foregoing shall be paid to holders of liens recorded after the mortgage and then to the appropriate mortgagor. If the person to whom such surplus is to be paid cannot be located, or if the surplus available is insufficient to pay all claimants and the claimants cannot agree on the allocation of the surplus, or if any person claiming an interest in the mortgage proceeds does not agree that some or all of the sale proceeds should be paid to a claimant as provided in this section, that part of the sale proceeds in question may be deposited by the foreclosure commissioner with an appropriate official or court authorized under law to receive disputed funds in such circumstances. If such a procedure for the deposit of disputed funds is not available, and the foreclosure commissioner files a bill of interpleader or is sued as a stakeholder to determine entitlement to such funds, the foreclosure commissioner’s necessary costs in taking or defending such action shall be deductible from the disputed funds.

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Terms Used In 12 USC 3712

  • Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
  • Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. Source: OCC
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • mortgage: means a deed of trust, mortgage, deed to secure debt, security agreement, or any other form of instrument under which any interest in property, real, personal or mixed, or any interest in property including leaseholds, life estates, reversionary interests, and any other estates under applicable State law, is conveyed in trust, mortgaged, encumbered, pledged, or otherwise rendered subject to a lien, for the purpose of securing the payment of money or the performance of an obligation. See 12 USC 3702
  • mortgage agreement: means the note or debt instrument and the mortgage instrument, deed of trust instrument, trust deed, or instrument or instruments creating the mortgage, including any instrument incorporated by reference therein (including any applicable regulatory agreement), and any instrument or agreement amending or modifying any of the foregoing. See 12 USC 3702
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • person: includes any individual, group of individuals, association, partnership, corporation, or organization. See 12 USC 3702
  • recorded: include "register" and "registered" in the instance of registered land. See 12 USC 3702
  • security property: means the property, real, personal or mixed, or an interest in property, including leaseholds, life estates, reversionary interests, and any other estates under applicable State law, together with fixtures and other interests subject to the lien of the mortgage under applicable State law. See 12 USC 3702