Lis pendens filed on your house in Jacksonville or Clay County? The Florida foreclosure timeline, step by step
Foreclosure in Florida goes through the court, and it takes longer than most people expect. Here is each stage in Duval and Clay County, what you can do at each one, and when selling makes sense.
If you were served with foreclosure papers, or you found a lis pendens recorded against your house in Jacksonville, Orange Park, Middleburg or anywhere else in Duval or Clay County, the first thing to know is that the house has not been taken. Florida is a judicial foreclosure state. A lender has to sue you, win, and then wait for a court-ordered sale. That takes months, often many.
This guide walks through the stages in order. It is general information, not legal advice. A Florida attorney or a legal aid office can tell you where your own case stands.
Stage 1: missed payments and the breach letter
Before a lender can sue, it normally has to send a notice that says how far behind you are and gives you a deadline to catch up, usually about 30 days. Federal rules also generally keep a servicer from starting a foreclosure until a loan is more than 120 days behind.
What you can do now: call the servicer, ask for a loan modification or a repayment plan, and call a HUD-approved housing counselor. This is the cheapest point to fix the problem, because no attorney fees have been added yet.
Stage 2: the lawsuit and the lis pendens
The lender files a complaint in circuit court. Duval and Clay County are both part of Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit, so the case is filed in Jacksonville or in Green Cove Springs. At the same time the lender records a lis pendens, a public notice that a lawsuit involving the property is pending. That is the filing that investors and attorneys start mailing you about.
A process server delivers the summons and complaint. From the day you are served you generally have 20 days to file a written response with the court.
What you can do now:
- Respond. If you do nothing, the lender can ask for a default, and the case moves quickly from there. An answer, even a simple one, keeps you in the case and buys time.
- Get legal help. Jacksonville Area Legal Aid and similar offices help homeowners who qualify, at no cost.
- Keep working with the servicer. A modification can still be approved while the case is open.
- Sell. A lis pendens does not stop you from selling. The lender is paid off at closing and the case is dismissed.
Stage 3: judgment
If the case is not settled, the lender asks the judge for a final judgment of foreclosure, either by default or at a hearing or trial. The judgment states the total owed, including interest, costs and attorney fees, and sets a sale date. Florida law generally puts that date a few weeks after the judgment, commonly 20 to 35 days, though it can be longer.
What you can do now: you can still sell, but the buyer has to be able to close before the sale date, with the title company getting a payoff from the lender's attorney. You can also ask the court to postpone the sale. Judges sometimes agree when there is a signed contract to sell.
Stage 4: the sale
The Clerk of Court sells the property at a public auction, which in both Duval and Clay County is held online. The highest bidder wins, and the lender can bid up to what it is owed without paying cash.
In Florida you generally have the right to redeem the property by paying the full judgment amount up until the clerk files the certificate of sale, or by whatever deadline the judgment sets. After that, the right is gone.
About ten days after the sale, if nobody objects, the clerk issues a certificate of title to the winning bidder. That is when ownership changes.
After the sale
- Surplus funds. If the house sells for more than the judgment, the extra goes to junior lienholders and then to you. You can file a claim with the court yourself. Be wary of anyone who offers to collect it for a large share.
- Deficiency. If the house sells for less than what was owed, the lender may be able to pursue you for the difference. Ask an attorney how that applies to you.
- Moving out. The new owner has to ask the court for a writ of possession before the sheriff can remove anyone.
When does selling make sense?
Work it out with real numbers:
- What is the house worth as it sits? Look at recent sales nearby, not asking prices.
- What is the payoff? Ask the servicer or the lender's attorney for a payoff letter. Add any second mortgage, association liens, code liens and back taxes.
- What is left? If the first number is clearly higher than the second, you have equity that a foreclosure sale can wipe out. Selling keeps it.
If you owe more than the house is worth, a regular sale will not cover the loan. Ask the servicer about a short sale, and talk to a counselor about the alternatives. We will tell you plainly if that is your situation.
How we work with owners in foreclosure
We buy houses for cash across Duval County and Clay County. When a case has been filed, we get the payoff, show you our offer and what would be left for you in writing, and close through a local title company that pays the lender directly. If keeping the house or listing it would leave you better off, we will say so.
To see a number you can compare against your other options, send us the address. There is no charge and no obligation.