Foreclosure research in Florida
Florida is a court state, and a fast one: the first deadline is shorter than most expect.
A Florida summons commonly gives 20 days to respond, counted from the day you were served. The Homeowner Research Document gives you every filing on your property, connected, dated and counted, with the data from homes like yours and alerts when anything changes.
Questions? Call 516-499-1731.
This page is written for Florida
A court case with a short deadline
A lender must file a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of the county where the property is, and serve you with a summons and a complaint.
The summons prints the number to know: 20 days to respond, counted from service. That is short, and easy to miss.
Write down the day you were served and keep the envelope: almost everything that follows is counted from it.
Each stage, from summons to sale
The stages of a Florida residential foreclosure, in order.
The complaint and summons
The case is filed and served on you, and the clock starts that day.
A response, or a default
If nothing is filed in time, the lender may ask for a default and take judgment with no hearing on the merits.
An expedited procedure
A lender may also ask the court to require a quick explanation before judgment. If a court paper sets a short deadline, call a licensed Florida attorney that day.
A contested case
It moves on the court’s schedule, to trial if it gets that far.
The final judgment
It sets the amount owed and the sale date.
The sale
Most Florida counties hold online auctions run by the clerk of court, on the clerk’s website.
After the sale
The clerk issues a certificate of sale. Objections may be filed in a short window, commonly ten days. Then the certificate of title, and ownership transfers.
Uncontested cases can reach a sale in months, contested cases longer. What matters most is whether a response was filed on time. Go by the dates on your own papers.
Where homeowner rights are written down
Homeowners have rights in a foreclosure. Most are written down in public law, and hardly anyone is shown where.
We use public research data to illustrate the rights homeowners have. The sources are open to everyone: the statutes, the court rules, published court decisions, county land records and court dockets.
In general terms, those sources say:
- Where a foreclosure goes through a court, a homeowner has a set number of days to respond after being served, and the clock starts on a date that is written down.
- In a court foreclosure, a judge decides the outcome, and the case moves on a schedule the court sets.
- State law generally sets a point in the process up to which a homeowner may bring the loan current.
- A homeowner may contact their lender or servicer directly, at any time, and needs no one's permission to do it.
We hand you your record and the published sources behind it, so you and your attorney can read them together.
Research built around your Florida home
Homeowner Research Document
Research and data built around your property. Every filing on it, how those filings connect, the numbers behind them, and alerts when anything new is recorded.
If you are facing foreclosure, it includes a full report on your Florida foreclosure file:
- Every paper in your case, dated and sourced.
- How the papers connect, from the original loan through every transfer and assignment.
- A timeline of every filing and every deadline, keyed to the day you were served.
- The numbers, including how cases like yours have moved through your county’s Circuit Court.
- The papers your record refers to that are not in your file.
It is organized so your attorney can work from it at your first meeting.
The price is quoted for your document, based on the research it needs.
Working with us from Florida
Our office is in Valley Stream, New York.
We have no office in Florida. We work with Florida homeowners by phone, email and mail.
70 Sunrise Highway, Suite 500
Valley Stream, NY 11581
Phone: 516-499-1731
Email: customerservice@
When your situation calls for a licensed Florida attorney, we coordinate the referral, with your Homeowner Research Document ready for the first meeting. You would be their client, not ours.
Talk to a person.
Call 516-499-1731, Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Saturday appointments are available on request. If we are with another client, leave a message with your name, your phone number, and the county your property is in, and we will call you back.
Prime Real Estate Consultants
70 Sunrise Highway, Suite 500, Valley Stream, NY 11581
customerservice@
| Monday to Friday | 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM |
|---|---|
| Saturday | By appointment only |
| Sunday | Closed |
Free help is also available.
You do not have to pay anyone for help with a foreclosure. HUD-approved housing counseling agencies give free counseling nationwide. Call 1-800-569-4287 or visit hud.gov. Many states and counties also run free foreclosure prevention programs. We want you to know about them, whether or not you ever hire us.
If you have a sale date or a court date coming up, call a licensed attorney today.
We are not a law firm.
Prime Real Estate Consultants is a property research and consulting business. We do not practice law or represent anyone, and nothing on this site is legal, tax or financial advice. Contacting us or buying a service does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Your rights under Florida law
Florida regulates this work under the Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Prevention Act, Fla. Stat. § 501.1377. Under that law, no work may begin without a written agreement signed by both sides, printed in at least 12-point uppercase type. You must be given a copy of the agreement to review at least 1 business day before you are asked to sign it.
If you sign a written agreement with us, Florida law gives you the right to cancel it, with no penalty and no obligation, within 3 business days after you sign. If you cancel, anything you have paid must be returned to you within 10 business days.
Florida law also recommends that you contact your lender or mortgage servicer before signing any agreement for foreclosure-related rescue services.
Free help is available. Call the Florida Attorney General's consumer line at 866-966-7226.