Florida foreclosure sales: how the clerk's auction works for bidders

In this article

Written by

Kooky

Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.

About Kooky and Shaka →

In Florida, a foreclosed home is sold by the clerk of the circuit court, under a court judgment, at a public auction that the clerk may run online. The whole procedure sits in one section of the Florida Statutes, section 45.031, and four short sections that follow it. Together they tell a bidder what must be published before the sale, how much money has to be on the table when the bidding closes, when the sale becomes final, and what happens to any money left over.

This guide follows that procedure in order, from the position of someone who intends to bid. It rests on the 2026 edition of the Florida Statutes as published by the Florida Legislature, and on the foreclosure sales page of one clerk's office, the Hillsborough County Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller, to show how a county applies the statute day to day. It closes with the tax deed sale under chapter 197, a separate auction that the same clerk conducts under different rules. Where the pages read for this guide are silent, the guide says so.

Florida Statutes, 2026 edition, sections 45.031(3), 45.031(5) and 45.032(3)(c).

Two auctions, two sets of rules

Two different public sales of Florida real estate are held by a clerk of the circuit court, and they are easy to confuse. The first is the judicial sale. Section 45.031 says it applies to sales of real or personal property under an order or judgment, and that the procedure may be used as an alternative to any other sale procedure if the court so orders. A mortgage foreclosure that ends in a final judgment is sold this way: a court has already decided the case, and the auction carries out its judgment.

The second is the tax deed sale, governed by chapter 197. It begins when the holder of a tax certificate on a property with unpaid taxes applies to the county tax collector for a deed, and it ends with a deed issued in the name of the county. The deposit, the payment deadline, the treatment of liens and the handling of any surplus all differ from the judicial sale.

The judgment fixes the sale date

The auction date is not chosen by the clerk or by the lender alone. Under subsection (1) of section 45.031, the final judgment itself directs the clerk to sell the property at public sale on a specified day that is not less than 20 days or more than 35 days after the date of the judgment. A later date is possible if the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney consents to it.

The judgment must also carry two warnings, both about money that may be left after the sale. The first is a conspicuous statement that additional money may remain once the persons entitled to be paid from the proceeds have been paid, and that a subordinate lienholder claiming a right to those funds must file a claim with the clerk no later than the date on which the clerk reports the funds as unclaimed. The second applies when the property carries the homestead exemption on the latest approved tax roll. In that case the judgment adds a notice to the owner that the owner may claim the surplus directly, that no lawyer is required to do so, and that the owner should check with the clerk within 10 days after the sale to see whether there is additional money.

Paragraph (1)(c) has the clerk mail a copy of the judgment by first-class mail to the last known address of every party, or to the attorney of record. The same paragraph protects the sale from later attack on formal grounds: an irregularity in that mailing, the omission of the required statement, or a sale held more than 35 days after the judgment does not affect the validity or finality of the judgment or of any sale held under it.

Notice of sale: what has to be published

Subsection (2) gives two ways of publishing the notice of sale. It may run on a publicly accessible website, as provided in section 50.0311, for at least two consecutive weeks before the sale. Or it may be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the sale is to be held. For the newspaper route the statute adds a timing rule: the second publication must appear at least five days before the sale.

The statute lists six things the notice must contain:

1. A description of the property to be sold.
2. The time and place of the sale.
3. A statement that the sale will be made under the order or final judgment.
4. The caption of the action.
5. The name of the clerk making the sale.
6. A statement that any person claiming an interest in the surplus from the sale, other than the property owner as of the date of the lis pendens, must file a claim before the clerk reports the surplus as unclaimed.

The lis pendens is the notice of the pending lawsuit recorded against the property, and its date returns later as the reference point for who owns any surplus. The court may, in its discretion, enlarge the time of the sale, and subsection (2) requires that a changed time be published in the same way as the original notice.

Publication is a condition that a clerk checks. The Hillsborough County Clerk says on its foreclosure sales page that the original notice of sale and the proof of publication must be filed at least 24 hours before the sale, and it lists a missing notice, missing proof of publication and major errors in the published notice among the reasons a sale is cancelled. Its list also includes a notice of cancellation received by 8:00 am on the day of the sale, a bankruptcy filing and a court order cancelling the sale.

The clerk's online sale

Subsection (3) says the sale is conducted at public auction at the time and place set out in the final judgment. Subsection (10) then lets the clerk conduct it by electronic means. The procedures of the section apply in the same way, with one stated exception: electronic proxy bidding is allowed. Three further rules come with the electronic format. The clerk may require bidders to advance enough funds to cover the deposit that subsection (3) demands. The clerk must provide access to the electronic sale through computer terminals open to the public at a designated location. And the clerk must accept an advance credit proxy bid from the plaintiff, for any amount up to the plaintiff's maximum allowable credit bid. The clerk may also receive electronic deposits and payments related to the sale.

That last rule about the plaintiff matters to every other bidder. The foreclosing lender takes part in the auction without bringing cash, up to the limit of its credit bid, and its proxy bid is lodged in advance. A third party buys the property only by bidding above it.

Hillsborough County shows what the format looks like in one county. Its Clerk says sales are held online every weekday, Monday to Friday, at 10:00 am. Bidders must register and place a deposit before the sale. The pages read for this guide describe that one county only; the statute leaves the choice of an electronic sale to each clerk, so the day, hour and method of sale in another county have to be read from that county's clerk.

The deposit, and when the balance falls due

The statute's rule on the deposit is one sentence long. At the time of the sale, the successful high bidder must post with the clerk a deposit equal to 5 per cent of the final bid, and the deposit is applied to the sale price at the time of payment. Subsection (10) lets a clerk collect the money beforehand. The Hillsborough County Clerk requires every participant other than the plaintiff to have on deposit, before the sale starts, 5 per cent of the anticipated high bid for each property the participant wants to bid on. A bidder who has deposited US$10,000 has thus covered a high bid of up to US$200,000 on one property.

Section 45.031 does not say when the rest of the price is due. It refers only to final payment being made "within the prescribed period". The period is prescribed elsewhere, and in Hillsborough County the Clerk gives it precisely: the balance, the documentary stamp fees and the court registry fees must be paid by midday on the next business day. The Clerk states that this final payment cannot be made by ACH or domestic wire.

The price is not the only sum due at that moment. The Hillsborough Clerk gives the state documentary stamp tax rate as 70 cents for every US$100, and the court registry fee as 3 per cent of the first US$500 and 1.5 per cent on each subsequent US$100.

A bidder who misses the deadline loses more than the property. Under subsection (3), if final payment is not made within the prescribed period, the clerk readvertises the sale and pays all costs of the sale from the deposit; whatever remains of the deposit is applied toward the judgment. The Hillsborough Clerk puts it the same way from the bidder's side: the deposit is forfeited and the property is re-advertised and sold at a later date.

The certificate of sale and the 10-day window

Winning the auction and paying for it does not yet make the bidder the owner. Subsection (4) says that after a sale of the property the clerk promptly files a certificate of sale and serves a copy on each of the parties. The certificate records that notice of the sale was published, that the property was offered for sale to the highest and best bidder for cash, and it names the winning bid and the bidder. The Hillsborough County Clerk adds a practical condition: it issues the certificate of sale provided all required sale proceeds are paid in full.

The filing of that certificate starts a clock. Subsection (5) gives 10 days after the certificate of sale is filed for objections to the sale. Subsection (8) describes one kind of objection. The amount of the bid is conclusively presumed to be sufficient consideration for the sale, yet any party may serve an objection to the amount of the bid within 10 days after the clerk files the certificate of sale. A timely objection is heard by the court.

Two points in subsection (8) bear on the bidder. An objection to the amount of the bid does not affect or cloud the title of the purchaser. And the bid has a second life in a different dispute: if the lender seeks a deficiency judgment against the borrower for the unpaid part of the debt, the court may consider the amount of the bid as one of the factors in deciding that question under the usual equitable principles.

The dates in that timetable are illustrative. They assume that the certificate of sale is filed on the day the balance is paid and that no objection, bankruptcy or court order intervenes; the statute says only that the clerk files the certificate promptly.

Certificate of title: when ownership passes

If no objections to the sale are filed within the 10 days, subsection (5) has the clerk file a certificate of title and serve a copy of it on each party. The Hillsborough County Clerk describes its own timing as issuing the certificate of title after ten full calendar days from the certificate of sale, if no other related action is pending.

Subsection (6) states what the certificate does. On its filing, the sale stands confirmed, and title to the property passes to the purchaser named in the certificate without the necessity of any further proceedings or instruments. The clerk records it.

The same filing releases the money. Under subsection (7), on filing the certificate of title the clerk disburses the proceeds of the sale in accordance with the final judgment, then files a report of the disbursements, the certificate of disbursements, and serves it on each party. That certificate lists who was paid and how much, the total, and any surplus the clerk has retained. Objections to the report must be served within 10 days after it is filed; if none are, the disbursements stand approved as reported. A dispute over the distribution is heard by the court and, as with objections to the bid, the subsection says it does not affect or cloud the purchaser's title.

The right of redemption, and the moment it ends

Until the sale is certified, the property can still be taken out of the auction by payment. Section 45.0315 gives that right to the mortgagor and to the holder of any subordinate interest. Either may cure the mortgagor's indebtedness and prevent a foreclosure sale by paying the amount specified in the judgment, order or decree of foreclosure. If no judgment has been entered yet, the amount is the performance due under the security agreement, including any sums due because of acceleration, plus the reasonable expenses of proceeding to foreclosure incurred to the time of tender, reasonable attorney's fees of the creditor included.

The deadline is the later of two moments: the filing of a certificate of sale by the clerk of the court, or the time specified in the judgment, order or decree of foreclosure. The section then closes the door in seven words: "Otherwise, there is no right of redemption."

Surplus funds: who is paid, and by when

A bidder who pays more than the judgment requires creates a surplus. Section 45.032 defines surplus funds as the funds remaining after payment of all disbursements required by the final judgment of foreclosure and shown on the certificate of disbursements. The section sets a rebuttable legal presumption that the owner of record on the date of the filing of the lis pendens is the person entitled to it, after payment of subordinate lienholders who have timely filed a claim. The Legislature says in the same subsection that it intends to abrogate the common-law rule under which surplus belonged to the owner of the property on the date of the foreclosure sale.

The two groups are defined. The owner of record is the person or persons who appear to be the owners of the property on the date the lis pendens is filed. A subordinate lienholder is the holder of a lien shown on the face of the pleadings as an encumbrance on the property, other than the plaintiff's own lien; the section gives subordinate mortgages, judgments, tax warrants, assessment liens and construction liens as examples, and excludes a holder who has been paid in full from the proceeds.

If the owner of record claims the surplus before the clerk reports it as unclaimed and there is no subordinate lienholder, the court orders the clerk to deduct any applicable service charges and pay the remainder to the owner. The statute supplies a sworn claim form for this. If another person claims an interest, the court sets an evidentiary hearing. Under section 45.035, the charges that come out of a surplus are US$28, which the clerk may withhold and may use only to educate the public about the rights of homeowners in foreclosure proceedings, and US$15 for each disbursement of surplus proceeds.

A worked example, with assumed figures: on a winning bid of US$200,000 and disbursements under the judgment of US$150,000, the surplus is US$50,000. With one disbursement to the owner of record, the clerk's charges are US$28 plus US$15, or US$43, and the owner receives US$49,957.

The deadline is one year. Paragraph (3)(c) of section 45.032 says that one year after the sale, any surplus remaining with the clerk that has not been disbursed is presumed unclaimed for the purposes of section 717.113, and must be reported and remitted to the Florida Department of Financial Services, unless a court proceeding over entitlement is pending. After that remittance, only the owner of record reported by the clerk, or that owner's beneficiary if the owner has died, is entitled to the money. A surplus of less than US$10 escheats to the clerk.

Section 45.033 regulates those who offer to collect a surplus on an owner's behalf. A voluntary transfer or assignment of the right to surplus must be in writing, must contain a financial disclosure and a statement that the owner does not need an attorney or other representative to recover the funds, and must be filed with the court within 60 days after the certificate of disbursements is filed. The total compensation of the assignee may not exceed 12 per cent of the surplus. On the US$50,000 of the example, that ceiling is US$6,000. None of this touches the purchaser: section 45.032 says proceedings over surplus funds do not in any way affect or cloud the title of the purchaser at the foreclosure sale.

Liens: what the pages read do and do not say

The question bidders ask first is which debts follow the property after the sale. The sections of chapter 45 read for this guide do not answer it with a list. They show the structure instead: the liens shown on the face of the pleadings behind the plaintiff's own are treated as subordinate, and their holders are sent to the surplus for payment. The sections do not say what becomes of an interest that was not part of the case, or of one that ranks ahead of the foreclosing plaintiff.

The clerk does not fill that gap. The Hillsborough County Clerk tells bidders that they must do their own research on each property, and that the Clerk's office cannot advise whether there are outstanding liens or encumbrances on it. The page suggests a Florida-licensed attorney or another qualified source such as a title company for that question. Which liens remain after a judicial sale is thus an open point as far as the pages read here go.

The clerk sells what the judgment orders sold. What else is recorded against the property is for the bidder to find out before the sale.

The tax deed sale under chapter 197, in brief

The tax deed sale starts from a tax certificate, not a mortgage. Under section 197.502, the holder of a tax certificate may apply for a tax deed once two years have passed since 1 April of the year the certificate was issued. The application goes to the tax collector of the county where the property lies, with a fee of US$75. The titleholders of record, recorded lienholders and mortgagees are among those notified.

Section 197.542 gives the sale to the clerk of the circuit court, at public auction, and allows it to be held electronically with proxy bidding. The opening bid is the certificate holder's: the amounts paid, plus interest at 1.5 per cent a month from the month after the application through the month of the sale. If the land is assessed as homestead on the latest tax roll, one-half of the homestead's assessed value is added. On an assumed assessed value of US$120,000, that adds US$60,000 to the opening bid.

The payment terms are tighter than in a judicial sale. A worked example: on a bid of US$40,000 the deposit is US$2,000, since 5 per cent exceeds US$200; on a bid of US$3,000, 5 per cent is US$150, so the deposit is US$200. Full payment of the final bid, with documentary stamp tax and recording fees, is due within 24 hours. If it is not made, the clerk cancels all bids, readvertises the sale within 30 days and pays the costs from the deposit, and the clerk may refuse a later bid from a person who previously bid and did not honour it. If nobody bids above the certificate holder, the property is struck off to that holder. If there are no bidders at all, section 197.502 places the land on a list of lands available for taxes: the county may buy it for the opening bid during the first 90 days, any person may do so after that, and three years after the land was offered for sale it escheats to the county.

On liens, chapter 197 is explicit where chapter 45 is not. Section 197.552 says that, except as the chapter specifically provides, no right, interest, restriction or other covenant survives the issuance of a tax deed. The exception it names is a lien of record held by a municipal or county governmental unit, a special district or a community development district, which survives when it is not satisfied from the sale proceeds. Section 197.582 has the clerk pay governmental units' recorded liens first from any surplus, hold the balance for 120 days from a notice sent with a claim form, and accept sworn claims within that period; a claim filed late by anyone other than the property owner is barred. The same section lets the recipient of the tax deed pay governmental liens directly and recover the payment from the surplus on a timely claim.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

About Kooky and Shaka →