Surplus Funds Courses Compared: Overages Blueprint vs Surplus Funds Profit System (2026)
About this article: “Marcus” is TaxLienSimple's educational narrator. First-person stories and dollar examples are illustrative scenarios written to explain real tax-sale concepts, they are not the personal trading history of a specific investor. Rate and legal information is sourced separately to official statutes and government records (see About and each guide's citations).
TL;DR
- →Two of the most searched surplus funds programs are Bob Diamond's Overages Blueprint and Eric Richardson's Surplus Funds Profit System. Both teach the business of helping former owners claim surplus funds for a fee.
- →Bob Diamond's own site lists the Overages Blueprint as an online training program for $1,497, covering how the business works, state legal research, the best states, getting the lists, finding claimants and the paperwork.
- →Eric Richardson's site offers a free live training. Working with him afterward is a separate paid program, and its price is not published on the page. The page carries a disclosure that the results shown are not typical.
- →No course changes your state's law. Texas lets only attorneys charge for tax sale excess proceeds, Indiana and Nevada cap fees at 10 percent, and Colorado makes paid foreclosure overbid agreements unenforceable.
- →After any course you still need current county lists, a way to check each record's deadline and lienholders, skip tracing, and an honest first letter. Budget for those before you budget for the course.
Why people search for these courses
Surplus funds recovery gets a lot of attention on YouTube and social media, and two names come up more than any others: Bob Diamond, who sells the Overages Blueprint, and Eric Richardson, who runs the Surplus Funds Profit System. Searches for Bob Diamond's overages program alone run to several hundred a month, and searches for reviews of it carry some of the highest advertising prices in the whole surplus funds topic.
This article compares what each program says it offers, using the sellers' own pages, checked on October 25, 2026. We have not taken either course. We do not judge anyone's honesty or results, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy or not to buy. What we can add is the part we work with every day: the county lists, the state rules and what the records really look like.
If you are new to the topic, read Overages Meaning: What Tax Sale Overages Are and How to Become a Surplus Funds Recovery Agent first.
The two programs side by side
Here is what each seller's own page says, in plain terms. Prices and offers change, so check the current page before you decide.
| Overages Blueprint | Surplus Funds Profit System | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sells it | Bob Diamond, who presents himself as a tax sale attorney | Eric Richardson, who presents himself as a former pro basketball player and licensed financial advisor |
| Format | Online home-study training program | Free live training, then a separate paid program to work with him |
| Published price | $1,497 | Training free; paid program price not published on the page |
| What it says it covers | How the business works, legal research on each state, the best states, getting the lists, finding claimants, paperwork, keeping startup costs down | Finding, reaching and signing former owners, and the county filing process, through a four-step system |
| Results claims | Course page describes the business; no income figures quoted here | Page states the results shown are real but not typical and are not a guarantee |
| Where to check | bobdiamond.com/products and bobdiamond.com/course | start.surplusfundsprofitsystem.com |
What a course can give you, and what it cannot
A good course can save you months of trial and error. It can explain how claims move through a county, give you agreement templates reviewed by an attorney, and show you how other agents find owners. That is real value, especially if you learn better from a structured program than from reading statutes.
There are four things no course can give you, and each one costs time or money after you buy:
- Current lists. Counties publish surplus lists on their own schedule, in their own formats, and they change. A list that was in the course last year may be out of date or gone.
- Up-to-date state law. States change their surplus rules, especially since the Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Tyler v. Hennepin County. A course recorded before a change will not know about it.
- Record-by-record checks. Whether a given record is worth working depends on its deadline, the lienholders ahead of the owner and whether the owner has died. That is daily research, not a lesson.
- Skip tracing. Finding owners costs money per search, and estates cost more.
When you compare a course, compare what you will still need to pay for after it.
Watch the lesson: TaxLienSimple Academy
Scams and guru traps to avoid
Public auctions run on public rules. A guaranteed return, pressure, or proof you cannot verify is enough reason to walk away.
The state rules no course can change
Whatever a course teaches, the law in each state decides what you can charge and whether you can work there at all. These are some of the rules we have read in the statutes, as of October 2026. Our recovery agent guide has the full table.
| State | Rule | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | Only attorneys may charge to recover tax sale excess proceeds; fee capped at 25% or $1,000 | Tex. Tax Code 34.04(i) |
| Indiana | Fee capped at 10%, written and signed agreement stating the amounts | Ind. Code 6-1.1-24-7.5 |
| Nevada | Fee capped at 10% of what remains | NRS 361.610 |
| Florida | Foreclosure surplus fees capped at 12%, assignment filed with the court | Fla. Stat. 45.033 |
| Utah | No finder's fee until 24 months with the state, then max 20% | Utah Code 59-2-1351.1(7) |
| Colorado | Paid agreements to recover foreclosure overbids are unenforceable | C.R.S. 38-38-111 |
| Oklahoma | Assignments made after the county resale begins are void | 68 O.S. 3131(D) |
What the money really looks like
Course marketing often leads with large checks. Those happen, but they are rare. Across the 30,573 county surplus records TaxLienSimple tracks in 342 counties, the median record is $2,913 and 7,770 records are above $10,000. At a 10 percent fee, the median record pays about $291.
That does not make the business a bad idea. It means the work is about choosing records well, in states where you can charge a fair fee, and doing it consistently.
Red flags in any surplus funds offer
These apply to any course, coach or software, including ours.
- Income claims without a clear statement that they are not typical.
- Pressure to buy today, or a price that only holds during a live webinar.
- Advice to tell owners they need you to get their money. They can always claim it themselves for free.
- Legal research with no date and no statute citations.
- No mention of states where the business is restricted, such as Texas, Colorado foreclosures or Washington.
The Washington Attorney General has taken action against a company accused of charging former homeowners up to 67 percent of their foreclosure surplus. Fair fees and honest letters are what keep this business working for everyone.
If you would rather start without a course
Plenty of agents start by reading their state's statute, collecting county lists, and working a handful of records carefully before spending on training. A sensible order:
- Pick one state where agents can charge and the rules are clear.
- Read the statute and have a local attorney review your agreement.
- Pull the county lists and check each record's deadline and lienholders.
- Use the Fair Recovery Kit for an honest first letter and an agreement checklist.
- Track every deadline, contact and fee in one place.
Our free surplus funds list shows every state and county we track, and members can search every record, see its state's rules and work claims through to payout.
Watch how it works
A narrated walkthrough: what surplus funds are and how recovery agents earn a fee, then find open surplus funds from county lists, check the parties and state rules, and track the claim to payout.
Read the transcript
Before I show you the dashboard, here's what surplus funds are, and why people make a living from them.
When someone falls behind on property taxes, the county can sell the property at auction.
Say the owner owed eight thousand dollars, and the home sold for ninety-five thousand.
The county keeps what it's owed. The other eighty-seven thousand is surplus, and by law, it belongs to the former owner.
Most owners never find out. They've moved, or they don't know the money exists. And if nobody claims it in time, it can go to the state.
That's where you come in. You find the owner, check that no one is owed ahead of them, and help them file the claim. They get their money, and you earn an agreed fee.
Owners can always claim for free on their own, and many states limit your fee. So the work is finding them, and making it easy.
TaxLienSimple tracks over one hundred and ninety million dollars of it across eighteen states, updated every day. Here's how to find a record, and work it all the way to payout.
This is TaxLienSimple. In the next few minutes, I'll find a surplus fund, check that it's worth working, and track it all the way to payout.
Start in County Data, on the Surplus funds tab. Every number here comes from the county's own list, and you can see how much is still open.
Open a state to see each county: the total, what's still open, the largest record, and the nearest deadline.
Search records takes you straight to those records.
Here in Research, you can narrow it down. I'll keep the open records, set a deadline within ninety days, and sort by the largest amount.
Open a record to see the detail.
Here's the amount, the claim deadline, and the former owner. Below that is everyone on the case. Lienholders and government claims can be paid before the owner, so check them first.
Every record shows the state's rules: how long the claim window is, any limit on your fee, and what you must tell the owner.
If it's worth working, add it to My claims.
Your claims live on one board, by stage. The top shows what you're working, your expected fees, and what's due this week.
Open the claim. The deadline countdown sits at the top.
From here you can search for the former owner by name and mailing address. Anyone matching the auction buyer is left out, because that's the wrong person.
Note who you're working with, and set a follow-up date. You'll get a reminder email that morning.
Every call, email, and letter goes in the contact log, so you never lose track.
Enter the fee you agreed. TaxLienSimple holds it to the state's limit, and shows what you'll earn.
Print a first letter in one click. Every letter tells the owner they can claim from the county for free.
The recovery agreement prints the state's fee limit and the required disclosure, and it won't print a fee above that limit.
Keep the paperwork here: photo ID, death certificates, the signed agreement. Only you can see it.
Move the claim along as it progresses. When the county pays, record the amount and your fee.
That's the whole workflow, from finding the money to getting paid, in one place.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about surplus funds courses.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Bob Diamond's Overages Blueprint cost?↓
Bob Diamond's own products page listed the Overages Blueprint online training program at $1,497 when we checked on October 25, 2026. Check his site for the current price and payment options.
Is the Surplus Funds Profit System free?↓
Eric Richardson's page offers a free live training. It says working with him afterward is a separate paid program, and that price was not published on the page when we checked.
Do I need a course to start a surplus funds business?↓
No. A course can save time, but you can start by reading your state's statute, collecting county lists, having an attorney review your agreement and working a few records carefully.
Can a course make surplus recovery legal in my state?↓
No. State law decides who can charge a fee and how much. In Texas only attorneys can charge for tax sale excess proceeds, and in Colorado paid agreements for foreclosure overbids are unenforceable.
What should I budget for after buying a course?↓
Current county lists or a data service, skip tracing, mail and phone costs, a business entity, and an attorney's review of your agreement in each state you work.
Keywords this article targets
More in Surplus Funds
- How to Claim Surplus Funds in Florida: Tax Deed and Foreclosure Surplus, Step by Step →
- How to Claim Surplus Funds After a Foreclosure: A Step-by-Step Guide for Former Owners →
- Is Surplus Funds Recovery Legit? Red Flags, Scams and the Fee Caps in Every State →
- How Long Does It Take to Get Surplus Funds? Claim Windows and Payout Times by State →
- Tyler v. Hennepin County, Three Years On: What It Means for Surplus Funds and Home Equity →
- Tax Sale Overages vs Foreclosure Surplus Funds: Who Holds the Money and Who Can Claim It →
- Surplus Funds When the Owner Has Died: How Heirs Claim, and What Agents Need to Know →
- California Excess Proceeds: How the Claim Works in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange and Every County →
- Georgia Excess Funds: How Tax Sale Claims Work Under O.C.G.A. 48-4-5 →
- Texas Excess Proceeds: How Tax Sale Claims Work, and Why Only Attorneys Can Charge →
Learn more in the TaxLienSimple Academy
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