Florida Foreclosure Laws

Foreclosure Laws in Florida

Florida foreclosure law requires that all lenders pursue judicial foreclosures. Power of Sale mortgage clauses allowing non judicial foreclosures are not allowed in the state. The entire foreclosure process generally takes about 5 months to complete.

Foreclosures in Florida begin when a mortgage lender files a suit against a defaulted homeowner in court, known as a Lis Pendens. The homeowner is notified of the Lis Pendens, and if they do not respond to it in a specified amount of time, the lender can ask the court to make a ruling and allow them to pursue a foreclosure against the homeowner as a means of collecting the outstanding debt. The final ruling by the court, if they find in favor of the lender, will accelerate the debt owed to the full amount of the loan and will include a date for the foreclosure sale of the property.

While state law does not require the lender to notify the homeowner before initiating the foreclosure process after a court ruling, some mortgages may carry stipulations requiring notification so that the homeowner may seek out foreclosures help. The homeowner can avoid foreclosures and halt the sale by paying the full amount of the loan owed to the lender at any point up until the day of the foreclosure sale.

Usually, the sale of Florida foreclosure homes doesn't occur until at least 20-35 days after a court makes its ruling. Before a sale can take place, the clerk of the court must arrange to have a Notice of Sale issued and published in a local newspaper once a week for two weeks, with the last notice appearing no more than 5 days before the sale.

The county clerk will also oversee the sale, which is run in the style of an auction and usually takes place at 11 am at the county courthouse. Once a winning bidder is established, that person must provide a 5% deposit immediately, and the rest of the bid must be paid before the end of the day, or the sale will be void and a new one will be scheduled for 20 days in the future.

If the winning bidder procures payment, they are presented with a Certificate of Sale. Ten days after the sale, if the sale's outcome is not disputed in court, the clerk transfers full ownership of the property to the winning bidder. There is no right to redemption for the homeowner provided by Florida foreclosure law once a Certificate of Sale has been issued.