Erie County, PA
Case study · Starter buyer story

How an Erie County surplus
landed in my mailbox

Erie-area property, the Erie County tax sale produced an overage above what was owed. Pennsylvania has no statutory cap on finder's fees — 72 P.S. §5860.803 governs disbursement, and contracts are freely assignable, so a Starter finder's-fee agreement is the entire workflow. The active outreach on the subject parcel combines Erie and Luzerne County filings, sitting around a combined $387K.

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The Starter plan

Everything you need to land your first overage

  • Heir search across all 50 states Skip-trace former owners and heirs — mailing addresses, phones, and email matches in one pass.
  • County-specific legal guide Per-county claim windows, filing instructions, and fee-cap rules generated for the parcel you're working.
  • Auto-drafted finder's fee contract Unlimited state-compliant agreements ready to mail. Sign, return, file.

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What this looks like end-to-end

Three steps, no spreadsheets

1

Find the cases

Search all 50 states' county records for tax sale overages. Filter by surplus size, claim window, and county filing rules.

Erie County: Erie is the county seat; tax sale overages surface through the Erie County tax claim office. Same 2-year 72 P.S. §5860.803 claim window as other Pennsylvania counties.
2

Trace the heirs

Automated skip-trace surfaces contact info for the former owner or their family. We're talking mailing addresses, phones, and email matches in one pass.

Same case: Skip-trace runs against the Erie County record pull and surfaces current contact data within 48 hours — enough to mail a finder's-fee agreement that week.
3

Sign and file

Starter generates the finder's-fee agreement and walks you through the county's claim filing. Send, get the signature, file.

Same case: Finder's-fee agreement generated, mailed via certified, signed and returned within two weeks. Erie County disburses once the signed contract and claim paperwork are on file.
Real results from real Starter buyers

Starter-tier wins, in the buyer's own words

Awaiting first paid wins — proof will appear here.

Common questions

What people ask before they subscribe

Is this legal in Pennsylvania? +
Yes. Pennsylvania's surplus funds law — 72 P.S. §5860.803 — expressly allows third parties to claim and disburse tax sale overages on behalf of the former owner, and Pennsylvania does not cap the finder's-fee percentage on those overages. Erie County cases follow the same Pennsylvania rules as every other county in the state. Contracts must be written and signed by the claimant — that's the part Starter auto-generates for you.
How long does the case take to close? +
Erie County processing time is comparable to other large Pennsylvania counties — most of the calendar window is the county's review, not yours. The active work — trace, contract, file — takes a few afternoons spread over two to three weeks.
What does the $49.99 Starter include? +
Starter includes 10 overage searches per month across all 50 states, automated heir-trace, and an unlimited finder's-fee contract generator. You get the same Erie County harvest data Pro users see — only the search quota is capped.
Do I need to be in Erie County to do this? +
No. Erie County cases were run from out of state in the past. Surplus fund claims are filed by mail or electronic submission in most Pennsylvania counties — physical presence is not required. Starter works for buyers anywhere in the US.
Is it really only 10 searches per month on Starter? +
Yes. Starter is capped at 10 searches per month — that's the tradeoff for the $49.99 price. Each search returns the overage record and any match data, so 10 well-targeted searches covers a whole month's worth of county filing. If you outgrow it, Pro is $149/mo with unlimited searches.

More case studies

Same toolkit.
Your first overage.

The same Erie County run, for you. Starter is $49.99/mo — no app account required, no long contract, cancel anytime.

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