I want to say right off the bat that I am not a Florida foreclosure attorney, and that this article is meant to be used for informational purposes only. Please be sure to consult a legal professional who understands the finer points of Florida foreclosure law before making any final decisions or determinations. Now, on with my post…
Foreclosure is something no one wants to face, but it’s all too common a situation for many Florida families today. As such, I wanted to provide a little bit of information about Florida foreclosures, how they’re structured, and where you might want to look in the unfortunate case you and your family may be facing one.
The Initial Foreclosure Process
Florida foreclosures begin when lenders record a notice with the court, known as a Lis Pendens – stating that they plan to begin the process against a borrower. At this point, your lender will contact you – usually via mail – to let you know that they have initiated the foreclosure process.
If you, as the borrower, do not respond to this notification/court action, by the specified deadline, the county clerk may find you in default. Should this happen, your lender may then ask the court to make a final ruling in the case. If the court rules against you, the ruling will include the total amount owed to the lender and will let you know exactly when the foreclosure will take place.
It should be mentioned here that the last thing your lender wants is to take on your property. What they want is your payment. In most cases – especially in today’s housing and economic environment – your lender will contact you by phone prior to initiating the foreclosure process to inquire as to why you haven’t made your payment(s). This is assuming that you haven’t already contacted them – which you should… immediately!
I say this because there is no law that requires your lender to contact you before the begin the foreclosure process on your Florida home.
Remember, in all things relationship/financial:
Open communication = GOOD… Ostrich head in the sand approach… BAD.
Notification of Sale and Foreclosure Auction
There is usually some lag time between the time your are first notified about the pending foreclosure and the actual court ruling. Many factors can extend this time period, and I encourage you to contact a Florida foreclosure attorney to determine exactly what steps you should take once you are initially notified.
Should the court rule that your foreclosure move forward, the actual foreclosure sale date will be set for sometime between 20 to 35 days after the ruling date. You should be notified by the clerk of the court as to the time, date, and location of the sale, and this notice will also be published once per week for a period of about two weeks – followed by a second notice 5 days before the actual sale.
Typically, the sale (auction) of your Florida home via foreclosure will be overseen by the clerk of the court and will take place sometime around 11: 00 on the sale date. If a winning bidder is established, they must pay a 5-percent deposit and agree to pay off the remaining balance by the end of the day. If that bidder fails to follow through, a new sale is scheduled a minimum of 20 days later.
The Florida foreclosure process may be swift, or it may linger on for a while – depending on the number of foreclosures in the pipeline. Here in central Florida, multiple auctions are not uncommon. Once a bidder successfully pays for the property, they receive a certificate of sale from the clerk of the court, and the deal is done.
Note: As recently as February 26, 2009 – the Huffington Post announced that a chief judge for the ninth circuit in Orange County, Florida — an epicenter of the foreclosure crisis — ruled Wednesday that mortgage providers must negotiate with borrowers before foreclosing on their homes. While this may not mean that you will necessarily be able to avert foreclosure, it does offer up some hope that the light at the end of the tunnel is still at least flickering.
Now, go call your Lender!
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I hope you found this post useful! As always, if you or anyone you know is in need of a local Florida mortgage loan originator, I’m your guy. Call me at 888-859-7418 or apply online for your Florida mortgage. We’ll keep you posted and let you know when it’s time to pull the trigger!
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You are so very right about the “open communication – good, ostrich in the sand – bad”. The more you research and know the less likely you will have problems. Knowing the basics of foreclosure law could help a lot of people avoid foreclosure, but sadly most don’t realize there are some rights they have.
Chelle’s last blog post..Creative Real Estate Email Marketing Tips and Ideas
Chelle, I hear you. It’s really too bad. I’d say fear, dread, whatever you want to call it… of the unknown is probably the biggest factor in terms of folks not picking up the phone, seeking answers, etc. All we can do in our profession is try to spread the word. As Mark Madsen put it in a recent post about being a professional in the real estate arena vs. a counselor of sorts…
Seems like some folks will take suggestions and run with them, while others won’t. What do you think?
Kevin – so many people I meet everyday don’t really understand how the process works – thanks for explaining it so even a “cave man” will get it.
It is important not to put your head in the sand even though it’s such a stressful, unpleasant thing – open communication is truly the key.
Cyndee Haydon’s last blog post..Buying Clearwater Florida Real Estate? Good Tampa Mortgage News this Week
Thanks, Cyndee… I find sometimes that the basic “how stuff works” approach gets buried in posts that try to be too clever (yes.. even on this blog!).
Always a good idea to tackle the nuts and bolts. As always, thanks so much for stopping by!
I kept open communication with the timeshare collections. letting them know about my illness and our finanical troubles to add to this my husband lost his job. they were notified of this also. this company went to far they created a false check withdrawal from our checking account for a payment causing our accout to overdraft for one and this was against the law. i was so sick and so frustrated i did not know what to do. now we recieved noticed with 5 other people on the notice that the property was going to court for forclosure. we do not have the means to fight this. what happens know. we are clueless. if the property is sold for the value are we cleared of the debt or if it is sold for less are we to pay the balance of the sale. could someone anwser this ? for me please. because now the company will not return my calls at all.