FLORIDA FORECLOSURE PROCESS
The Florida Foreclosure Process starts when you miss your first loan payment and moves forward until you decide on a Foreclosure Option or the bank files a Foreclosure Lawsuit against you. Although you’ll get phone calls and letters from the bank or the loan servicing company handling the loan for the actual owner, the real action doesn’t begin until you get a Notice of Default that complies with the requirements for the notice in your mortgage. Read More on The Importance of the Default Notice
If you haven’t already decided on a plan to avoid foreclosure by the time you receive the default notice or get served with the foreclosure lawsuit, its never too late to start by selecting a foreclosure option that’s best for you and your family. More on Foreclosure Options. Learn all you can about theForeclosure Process overall and then decide whether a short sale, loan modification or other foreclosure alternative works for you and use our Sample Foreclosure Documents to help implement your plan.
Unless your home has already been sold there’s likely a foreclosure option that’s right for you and you can fight to protect your home right up until the sale date and then file for bankruptcy as another method to stop or at least delay foreclosure.
Defending Florida Foreclosure Lawsuits
Florida Foreclosure Sales
Once the Florida foreclosure lawsuit has been completed, a judge approves the foreclosure sale and the clerk of court sets a foreclosure sale date at least 20 days or later from the date of the judgment. In most situations a foreclosure sale can be delayed or postponed even at this late date by filing for bankruptcy protection. Foreclosure Bankruptcy Option. You may also want to work with your lender or the purchaser of your property after the foreclosure sale to explore renting your property back from the new owner. More on Deed For Lease
Florida foreclosure sales are held online and about 10 days after the sale is completed the clerk issues a certificate of title to the successful bidder and a certificate of title transferring ownership to the new owner. The owner next asks the clerk for a writ of possession to evict the former owner if still in possession of the property which generally occurs a few days after the writ is issued but can basically happen at anytime. Don’t Let Foreclosure Stress Destroy Your Life
If the sale of your property doesn’t raise enough money to pay off your mortgage, the lender has the option of seeking a deficiency judgment against you for the difference which is permitted by Florida law. If not included in the original foreclosure judgment, a separate lawsuit for the deficiency balance must be instituted by the bank within 5 years from the date of the foreclosure judgment and a deficiency judgment remains in place for 10 years and can be renewed for an additional 10 year period. Learn How To Avoid Deficiency Judgments.
Related Content:
Broward County Foreclosure Help Programs
Palm Beach County Foreclosure Help Programs
State of Florida Foreclosure Help Programs