Florida · Get help now
Foreclosure sale date set in Florida: what you can still do
If your Florida foreclosure sale date is set, you still have options until the clerk files the certificate of sale, but each one needs fast action. A sale is stopped only by a paid-off judgment, a signed court order, a bankruptcy filing, or the lender dismissing or agreeing to delay. Start by confirming the sale is still on, then work through the options below in order. None of them is guaranteed.
Reviewed against Florida law and official sources on October 11, 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Tell us your sale date
Free. A person replies with the options and official help that fit. Messages about a scheduled sale are answered first.
Options still open before a sale in Florida
Confirm the sale is still scheduled
Today, and again the day before the sale
The date and time are in your final judgment and the notice of sale. Check your case docket on the clerk of court's website or call the clerk's foreclosure department, since the clerk runs the auction. Counties that sell online, such as Duval, list sales on their auction site.
Fla. Stat. § 45.031
Ask the servicer to agree to a later sale
As early as possible before the sale
The sale can be set beyond the usual 35 days if the lender or its attorney consents. If you have a complete workout application pending, a signed contract to sell the home, or reinstatement funds coming, tell the servicer and the lender's attorney in writing and ask them to move the sale.
Fla. Stat. § 45.031(1)(a)
Ask the judge to move or cancel the sale
The signed order must reach the clerk before the sale starts
File a written motion in your case explaining why the sale should be moved and ask the judge's office for a hearing. The court has discretion to extend the time of the sale. The clerk will act only on a written order signed by the judge, so a pending motion does not stop the auction.
Fla. Stat. § 45.031(2)
Pay the full judgment
Before the clerk files the certificate of sale
Paying the amount in the final judgment stops the sale. Contact the clerk's foreclosure department ahead of time to confirm the exact amount and how to pay. Ask the lender's attorney for a written payoff figure too.
Fla. Stat. § 45.0315
File bankruptcy
Before the sale, with notice filed in the foreclosure case in time
A suggestion of bankruptcy or a date-stamped copy of the petition filed in the foreclosure case is one of the grounds on which the clerk cancels a sale. Speak with a bankruptcy attorney or legal aid before filing, because it affects all of your debts and your credit.
If the sale happens: object and check for surplus
Within 10 days after the certificate of sale is filed
If something was wrong with the sale, file an objection with the court within 10 days. Also ask the clerk whether the sale produced a surplus. The judgment tells homeowners to check with the clerk within 10 days after the sale.
Fla. Stat. § 45.031(1), (5)
Call today, not tomorrow
With a sale on the calendar, every option above has a cutoff. A free HUD-approved housing counselor can call your servicer with you today: (800) 569-4287. For legal aid and court help, see free foreclosure help in Florida.
Common questions in Florida
How do I find out if my Florida foreclosure sale was canceled?
Look up your case on the clerk of court's website for your county or call the clerk's foreclosure department. The Duval County Clerk, for example, cancels a sale only for a signed court order received before the sale, a timely bankruptcy filing, an order setting aside the judgment, a voluntary dismissal, or redemption. Do not rely on a phone promise from the servicer alone.
Can I stop a Florida foreclosure auction on the day of the sale?
Only in narrow ways. You can pay the full judgment before the certificate of sale is filed, file bankruptcy and get proof into the foreclosure case in time, or have a signed court order delivered to the clerk before the sale. Each of these is hard to arrange in a few hours, so act as early as you can.
What is the last day to pay and keep my home in a Florida foreclosure?
Section 45.0315 lets you pay the judgment amount at any time before the later of the filing of the certificate of sale or the time stated in the judgment. The clerk files the certificate of sale promptly after the auction, so in practice you should treat the sale itself as the deadline.
Step by step
More on foreclosure in Florida
Understand the process
What is happening and how much time there is.
Weigh your options
What can stop it, and what happens if it goes ahead.
Get help now
Who to call, and what to do when a sale is scheduled.
- Free foreclosure help
- A sale date is set (this page)
Free, official, nationwide
Free help anywhere in the country
HUD-approved housing counselors
Free foreclosure prevention counseling from agencies approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A counselor can review your budget and deal with your servicer alongside you.
(800) 569-4287CFPB: help for struggling homeowners
Plain-language guides from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and a complaint form if your mortgage servicer is not following the rules.
Legal Services Corporation: find legal aid
Find the free civil legal aid office for your county if you have been served with a foreclosure lawsuit or given a sale date and cannot afford a lawyer.
Sources for this page
- Florida Statutes chapter 702, Foreclosure of Mortgages and Statutory Liens (2026)
- Florida Statutes chapter 45, including §§ 45.031 to 45.035 (judicial sales, redemption, surplus) (2026)
- Fla. Stat. § 95.11, Limitations other than for the recovery of real property
- Fla. Stat. § 501.1377, Violations involving homeowners during the course of residential foreclosure proceedings
- Florida Law Help: Foreclosures
- Duval County Clerk of Courts: Foreclosure (defendant information, sales, cancellation, writ of possession)
- Eighteenth Judicial Circuit Administrative Order 12-02-B (statewide managed mediation program terminated December 19, 2011)
- Florida Department of Economic Opportunity: HAF program accomplishments (December 29, 2022)
- U.S. Treasury: Homeowner Assistance Fund (period of performance ended September 30, 2026)
- Florida Housing: Florida's Hardest-Hit Fund (all programs closed)
- Florida Housing: State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program
- Florida Attorney General: Mortgage Fraud