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mortgage foreclosure action can also avail themselves of the summary “show cause” foreclosure
procedure prescribed by § 702.10, Florida Statutes. If successful, this summary procedure results in a
final judgment of foreclosure being entered much more rapidly than is customary in a typical Florida civil
suit. In a show cause foreclosure, it is possible for title to be issued within 90 to 120 days after the
mortgage foreclosure suit is filed. However, the Florida Legislature made recent changes to the show
cause procedure, and as of the date of this Guide, case law is still being decided that makes it unclear
how these new procedural modifications will impact the show cause timeline. The recent changes are
discussed in more detail in Section 4.6.1 below, however, participants in a foreclosure suit are urged to
contact a Lex Mundi-affiliated advisor for specific advice on the procedures of foreclosure actions.

Simultaneously with the filing of the foreclosure action, the plaintiff should record a notice of lis pendens
in the public records of the county or counties in which the real property is located. Any interest arising
after the recording of the lis pendens, whether recorded or unrecorded, is automatically foreclosed
unless the party asserting the interest affirmatively intervenes in the pending foreclosure suit within 30
days of the recording of the notice of lis pendens.

Once the suit is prosecuted to conclusion, either by trial, settlement, motion for default or summary
judgment, or through the use of the show cause procedure under § 702.10, Florida Statutes, the final
judgment of foreclosure is entered. A typical foreclosure judgment: (a) determines plaintiff’s entitlement
to be paid on the underlying indebtedness, (b) determines the amount of that indebtedness, including
principal, interest, costs, attorneys’ fees, prepayment penalties, late fees, premiums, taxes, etc., (c)
forecloses the interests of the owner(s), borrower(s), all junior lienholders, those tenants who have been
properly named as defendants, and those non-intervenors whose interests arose after the recording of
the notice of lis pendens, (d) sets the foreclosure sale date, (e) directs the Clerk of the Court on the
distribution of any excess sale proceeds, (f) may provide the Clerk with specific sale conduct
instructions not already provided by Florida’s judicial sale statute, § 45.031, Florida Statutes, (g) may set
a redemption deadline different from that established by § 45.0315, Florida Statutes, and (h) reserves
jurisdiction to award appropriate future relief, such as writs of possession, deficiency judgments, and, if
necessary, judgments of reforeclosure.

The date, time and place of the foreclosure sale are generally set in the final judgment of foreclosure.
Thereafter, a Notice of Sale is published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a general circulation
periodical in the county or counties in which the real property is located. The last publication of the
Notice of Sale must be at least five days before the foreclosure sale. Foreclosure sales are generally
conducted as public auctions and in accordance with Florida’s judicial sale statute, § 45.031, Florida
Statutes. In a few counties, the foreclosure sale is a live auction held at the County Courthouse and
conducted by a Clerk of the Court. However, in most counties, the sale is an on-line auction with all
bidders required to register in advance. At the foreclosure sale, the plaintiff is entitled to bid on credit up
to the full amount of the judgment, plus post-judgment interest which has accrued up to the date of the
sale. On the other hand, non-plaintiff bidders are required to deposit with the Clerk of the Court 5% of
the winning bid immediately upon the close of bidding in those counties conducting live auctions. In on-
line auction counties, non-plaintiff bidders must deposit 5% of their registered maximum bid with the
Clerk of the Court immediately upon registration. Most Clerks also require non-plaintiff bidders to pay
the remaining 95% of the bid amount in cash or cashier’s check later that same day, or by the end of
the next business day. In addition to the prompt payment of the winning bid, the winning bidder has to
pay a Florida documentary stamp tax based on the amount of the bid. In most counties, the tax is
$0.70 on each $100 – or any portion of $100 - bid. (This roughly equates to a tax of $7 for every
$1000 bid.) Because of the immediate funding requirements imposed on non-plaintiff bidders, it is
unusual for a plaintiff to be out-bid, particularly at a large commercial foreclosure sale.

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