Can I legally accept funds resulting from the tax deed sale of a house I had owned before a Chapter 7 bankruptcy?

Question

Many years ago, I rented a P.O. box. I no longer have anything with the address on it, all I know is the address itself.

I bought a house, and then a few years later walked away from it because the roof was falling apart. Got married, had kids, sick child medical bills piled up and we had to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The house ended up selling at a tax deed sale. Even after the bankruptcy, my name was still attached to the property.

A lawsuit to quiet the title of that property was served to me last year I believe, which I let lapse because I didn't want to deal with the house at all. After the court response quieting the title, I start getting letters from a bunch of companies stating they found money that belonged to me, and that the would offer me $X for them to get it for me. I believe I was noticed of a refund of the difference.

The form DFS-UP-106 states, to claim the funds, that I have to submit my driver's license and some proof, like correspondence or a bill, that contains my name and the address on the form.

First off, is this legal? I would like the unclaimed funds if I can claim them legally; If it is, while I don't have a document showing my name and the P.O. box it came from, but these people that contacted me by mail seem to have a way to do it, so how could I find some proof of me leasing/renting that PO Box? I'm going to to try calling or visiting that branch to see if they have records, but if that doesn't work, what course of action should I take?

EDIT: I found paperwork on this so I guess I would like other users to chime in on the legality of accepting these funds in light of having a bankruptcy on record.

EDIT I have been listing the.com address instead of the.org address by mistake. I've contacted my bankruptcy lawyer, and I will post the results when I hear them.

Answer 1

There is no prohibition against claiming funds that you are legally entitled to, even if you have gone through Chapter 7 bankruptcy. You can get general information on unclaimed funds here. You may be interested in this, which points out that you can either avail yourself of the services offered to you, or you can search the state database for an account held by the state (this saves you the finder's fee). Either way, you have to show that you are the person that owns the funds, which probably boils down to showing that you were the owner of the property. They are not totally transparent on form DFS-UP-106a (i.e. there doesn't seem to be a generic form out there for the world to see), so it is entirely possible that they require something connected to the address. The identification requirement "may vary depending upon what information the company that reported the funds to the department provided about the owner of the account". In which case, you might approach the relevant government agency involved in the tax deed sale to see if they can amend that information. However, USPS may be of some use, since there may be a record of the PO box that was rented. "Many years ago" could be a problem, though.