Sell a House Facing Foreclosure in Florida

First, find out how far your case has gone

Every Florida foreclosure is a lawsuit, so your real deadline is written in the court file, not in the letters from the lender's attorney. Look the case up on your county clerk's website by your name or by the case number printed on the summons.

Read the docket from the newest entry back. You are looking for a certificate of sale or certificate of title, a final judgment of foreclosure with a sale date, a motion for summary judgment or an order to show cause, and the return of service showing the day you were served. Whichever of those appears latest tells you which stage below is yours.

For what each of those filings means in the court process, read how foreclosure works in Florida. This page is about what you can still do with the house at each one.

How much time each stage leaves for a sale

• Behind, but no lawsuit yet: federal servicing rules generally bar a servicer from making the first foreclosure filing until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent. A sale started now can run on an ordinary closing schedule, with the missed payments paid from the proceeds.
• Served with the complaint: Florida's civil rules give you 20 days after service to serve an answer. Selling is not a substitute for responding, so do both, and have a Florida foreclosure attorney look at the answer.
• Order to show cause: this is the lender's faster track under section 702.10. The hearing can be held as soon as 20 days after the order is served or 45 days after the complaint was served, whichever comes later, so cases on this track move quickly.
• Motion for summary judgment: you have 40 days after the motion is served to file a response, and the hearing must be set at least 10 days after that deadline unless both sides agree or the judge orders otherwise. With clear title, that can be enough time to close before any judgment is entered.
• Mediation: it is not automatic in a Florida foreclosure. The judge can refer a contested case, or both sides can agree to mediate at any point, and the first session is generally held within 60 days of the referral. If yours is scheduled, bring a written offer and the lender's payoff figure.
• Final judgment entered: the judgment orders the clerk to auction the house 20 to 35 days later unless the lender consents to a later date. This is the tightest window, and the payoff has to reach the lender before the auction so the sale can be cancelled.
• Auction held, certificate not yet filed: your right of redemption runs until the clerk has filed the certificate of sale or the time set in the judgment, whichever is later, and you redeem by paying the full judgment amount. That window is short and closes without notice to you, so do not plan a sale around it.
• Certificate of sale filed: the redemption right is gone. If no one objects within 10 days, the clerk files a certificate of title to the auction buyer, and what is left for you is any surplus, covered below.

What closing before the auction does for you

Florida lets an owner stop a foreclosure sale by paying what the judgment says is owed. Before a judgment exists, the figure is everything due under the loan, including the accelerated balance and the lender's reasonable foreclosure expenses and attorney's fees. A sale raises that money from the house itself, so you do not have to find it first.

The title company orders the payoff from the lender's attorney and pays it at closing, along with any second mortgage, association balance, unpaid property tax, or other lien that has to come off the title. Then:

• The loan is paid in full, so the lender has no shortfall to chase you for.
• Equity above the payoff is paid to you at closing instead of going toward an auction bid.
• The case ends with a paid loan rather than a certificate of title issued to a stranger.
• You set the move-out date, instead of waiting for the auction buyer to be let into possession.

What we need from you, and how fast we can close

We buy Florida houses, condos, mobile and manufactured homes, and land as-is, with no repairs and no commissions, and our team has been buying as-is property for more than 10 years. When the title is clear and the lender's payoff figures are in hand, we can close in as little as 10 days, on the date you choose.

If a sale date is already set, send these first. Our home equity calculator gives a rough idea of what could be left for you after the payoff.

• Your case number and the county it was filed in
• The auction date in the final judgment, if there is one
• Your servicer's name and the law firm that filed the case
• Any second mortgage, home equity line, or association on the property
• A recent mortgage statement or reinstatement letter
• Whether you, a tenant, or no one is living in the house

When you owe more than it is worth: short sale or cash sale

A cash sale works when the price covers everything owed. When it does not, the lender has to agree to accept less, which is a short sale, and nothing can close until that approval arrives in writing. Because the lender's review sets the pace, a short sale gives you less control over the date than a sale that pays the loan in full.

Ask the lender to waive whatever balance remains, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau advises, and keep the waiver in writing. Without it, Florida lets a lender pursue a deficiency, though the law limits the amount on an owner-occupied home: after a short sale, it cannot exceed the outstanding debt minus the home's fair market value on the date of sale, and after a foreclosure sale, the judgment amount minus that value. A homestead exemption in place before the case was filed creates a presumption that the home was owner-occupied, and whether to award any deficiency is up to the judge.

There is also a clock. For a one- to four-unit residential property, a separate lawsuit for a deficiency has to be brought within one year, counted from the day after the clerk issues its certificate or the day after the lender accepts a deed in lieu of foreclosure. The foreclosure judge can also keep the case open to decide a deficiency, so ask a Florida foreclosure attorney how both rules apply to your loan.

Second mortgages, HOA liens, and association foreclosures

Every lien on the title is paid in order at closing, and a second mortgage or home equity line has to be paid off or released before a buyer receives clear title. A second lender that is not being paid can bring its own foreclosure even while the first mortgage is current, and that case runs through the same courts.

Under chapter 720, a homeowners' association has a lien for unpaid assessments plus interest, late charges, and reasonable collection costs and attorney fees. Before it records a claim of lien, it must give you 45 days to pay, and it cannot file a foreclosure until 45 days after a separate notice of its intent to foreclose.

Condominium associations operate under chapter 718, where no foreclosure judgment may be entered until at least 45 days after the association gives written notice of its intent to foreclose. Both kinds of association foreclose the way a mortgage lender does, ending in the same clerk's auction, and the case can be against a unit with no mortgage at all. More on these balances: selling with an HOA or condo balance and selling with liens on the title.

If the auction goes ahead: surplus funds

When the winning bid is more than the lender is owed, the clerk pays the lender's costs, the documentary stamps, the lender's attorney's fees, and the judgment amount, and holds what is left. Florida presumes that the owner of record on the day the lis pendens was filed is entitled to that surplus, after timely claims from subordinate lienholders such as a second mortgage or an association.

If the house qualified for a homestead exemption on the latest tax roll, the final judgment must tell you in capital letters that you can claim the money yourself, without a lawyer, and that you should contact the clerk within 10 days after the sale. Surplus still held by the clerk one year after the sale is presumed unclaimed and reported to the state.

Expect calls and letters from surplus-recovery companies once a sale is posted. A court must honor an assignment of your surplus only if it is in writing with the required financial disclosures, is filed within 60 days after the clerk files the certificate of disbursements, and pays the company no more than 12 percent of the surplus. Check any contract against that list, and remember that filing the claim yourself costs you no share at all.

Free help, and the offers to walk away from

A HUD-approved housing counselor can go through your loan options, often at little or no cost, and a Florida foreclosure attorney or your local legal aid office can look at defenses and deadlines. Timing a loss-mitigation application matters too: once most servicers have a complete application more than 37 days before a scheduled sale, they cannot move for judgment or hold the sale unless you are found ineligible, turn down what is offered, or fail to keep up an agreement.

Florida's foreclosure-rescue law, section 501.1377, bars anyone selling help to stop, delay, or cure a foreclosure from taking any payment until every service in the written agreement has been performed, and you can cancel that agreement within 3 business days of signing. It does not apply to an attorney representing you, someone acting with written approval from HUD or another government agency, or a qualifying nonprofit counseling agency. A violation is an unfair and deceptive trade practice, with penalties of up to $15,000 per violation.

The Attorney General's office tells homeowners to avoid any company that asks for an up-front fee, promises to save the home, or says to stop paying the mortgage. The patterns it describes:

• Lease or buy-back: you sign over the deed and are told you can rent the house and buy it back later.
• Bait and switch: papers presented as new loan documents turn out to be a deed.
• Phantom help: large fees for things you could do yourself, like calling your servicer.
• Official-sounding mail or calls from companies you have never dealt with.

When you keep an interest in the house after deeding it

If a deal has you deed the house to someone while you keep a lease option, a right to buy it back, or another interest, Florida treats it as a foreclosure-rescue transaction. It needs a written agreement stating that you are selling your home, and you can cancel it by 5 p.m. on the third business day after signing.

A straight sale, where you deed the house, take your proceeds, and move out, is a different thing. If you are unsure which one you are being offered, call the Attorney General's hotline at 1-866-966-7226 before you sign, and see our checklist of red flags to look for in a cash buyer.

Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Seminole cases

Florida law allows clerks to hold foreclosure auctions online, and all four of these clerks do. Where your case sits depends on the county, not the city on your mailing address:

• Broward (17th Circuit): cases from Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes, North Lauderdale, Margate, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, and Davie go through the Circuit Civil Division of the clerk's office, and auctions run on the clerk's RealForeclose site.
• Miami-Dade (11th Circuit): North Miami, Kendall, and the rest of the county use the clerk's online case system, and auctions run on its RealForeclose site. The clerk tells former owners to contact its foreclosure unit within 10 days of the certificate of sale about any surplus.
• Palm Beach (15th Circuit): for Lake Worth Beach, Royal Palm Beach, and the rest of the county, the clerk's eCaseView shows the docket and filed documents, and auctions are held online.
• Seminole (18th Circuit, shared with Brevard): Lake Mary and other Seminole cases are heard in Sanford, auctions are held online, and after a sale the clerk allows a 10-day objection period before the certificate of title issues. Any surplus appears on the certificate of disbursement and the case docket.

Frequently asked questions

This page is general information about selling property in Florida, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Laws change and every situation is different, so talk with a qualified Florida professional about yours.