Behind on the Mortgage — Sell Before the Lawsuit

A missed payment turns into two, the servicer's calls start, and the envelope you do not want to open sits on the counter. None of this is unusual; Pinellas and Hillsborough homeowners fall behind every month after a job loss, a divorce, a storm or a medical bill. What matters is that in Florida you still own the house, and the equity in it, until a judge and the clerk say otherwise. We buy houses with arrears and pay the lender in full at closing.

Lender paid at closing
Sell before the lawsuit
Close in 7–14 days
No fees, no repairs

Prefer to talk? Text or call Alex directly at (727) 353-6206.

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The house needs repairs and I can't afford themI inherited the house and want to get rid of itI'm tired of dealing with bad tenantsI need to sell ASAP for other reasons

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Key facts

Florida is a judicial foreclosure state: under Fla. Stat. § 702.01 the lender must sue in circuit court and win a final judgment before the clerk can sell the house.
Federal rule 12 CFR § 1024.41(f) bars a servicer from making the first foreclosure filing until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent, with only narrow exceptions.
Your servicer must try to reach you by day 36 of delinquency and send written notice of loss-mitigation options and free counseling by day 45 (12 CFR § 1024.39).
After a final judgment, Fla. Stat. § 45.031 sets the clerk's sale 20–35 days out, and you can still pay off or sell until the certificate of sale is filed (§ 45.0315).

On this page

Where you are: the first 120 days
Your options besides selling
What the Pinellas timeline looks like once a case is filed
How the payoff and arrears are handled at closing
What a sale now does to your credit, compared with a foreclosure
How we work when the clock is running

Where you are: the first 120 days

Falling behind does not start a foreclosure. It starts a countdown with federal protections built in. Under 12 CFR § 1024.39, your servicer has to make a good-faith attempt at live contact with you by the 36th day you are late and send a written notice by the 45th day describing the loss-mitigation options it offers and how to find a free housing counselor. Under 12 CFR § 1024.41(f), the servicer may not take the first legal step toward foreclosure until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent, unless you violated a due-on-sale clause or another lienholder is already foreclosing.

That makes one to four months behind the quiet window. Nothing has been filed in Pinellas circuit court, no lis pendens is on your title, and no foreclosure attorney fees have been added. Your credit is already being marked for each 30-, 60- and 90-day late payment, but that is the extent of the damage so far.

Around five to six months behind, the file usually goes to a law firm and the complaint is filed. From there you are on the timeline covered on our house in foreclosure page and in our Florida foreclosure timeline guide.

Your options besides selling

Selling is not always the right answer. If you can afford the house going forward and the problem was temporary, these are the options servicers must consider:

Reinstatement: pay the missed payments, late fees and costs in one lump sum and the loan is current again.
Forbearance: payments are paused or reduced for a set period, then the missed amount is repaid, spread out, or moved to the end of the loan.
Repayment plan: the arrears are added to your regular payment over several months.
Loan modification: the rate, term or principal is changed so the payment fits your income.
Short sale or deed in lieu: for owners who owe more than the house is worth; the lender accepts less, or takes the deed back.

Free HUD-approved housing counselors will walk you through an application and talk to the servicer with you; the national line is (800) 569-4287. One detail worth knowing: if you submit a complete loss-mitigation application before the servicer refers the loan, 12 CFR § 1024.41(f)(2) stops the servicer from filing until it has decided the application and any appeal. Get written confirmation that it is complete.

Two things to avoid. Florida's foreclosure-rescue law, Fla. Stat. § 501.1377, bars anyone from collecting a fee for stopping your foreclosure before the work is fully done; walk away from upfront fees. And do not sign the deed to someone who promises to take over the payments. You stay on the note, and the loan stays on your credit.

What the Pinellas timeline looks like once a case is filed

Florida is a judicial foreclosure state. Fla. Stat. § 702.01 says all mortgages are foreclosed in equity, which means a lawsuit in circuit court (the Sixth Judicial Circuit in Pinellas, the Thirteenth in Hillsborough), a judge, and a clerk's sale only after a final judgment. The stages, with the statutory clocks attached:

Complaint and lis pendens. The lender files suit and records a lis pendens against the house. A residential complaint has to say how the plaintiff is entitled to enforce the note and, if it holds the original, certify that under penalty of perjury (§ 702.015).
Your answer. You have 20 days after being served to respond. Doing nothing leads to a default.
Judgment. The lender can ask for an expedited order to show cause (§ 702.10). If the case is uncontested and the lender waives any deficiency, the court must enter judgment within 90 days of the close of pleadings (§ 702.065). Contested cases take far longer.
Sale. The judgment sets an online clerk's sale 20 to 35 days out (§ 45.031). You can still pay off the judgment, or close a sale that does, right up until the clerk files the certificate of sale (§ 45.0315).
Title. Ten days after the sale, if nobody objects, the clerk issues a certificate of title.

An uncontested case can run its course in a few months; a contested one commonly takes a year or more. Either way the judgment grows every month with interest, costs and the lender's attorney fees, all of it out of your equity.

How the payoff and arrears are handled at closing

This part is simpler than most owners expect. Under contract, the title company orders a written payoff from your servicer. That one number includes the unpaid principal, the missed payments, accrued interest, late fees, any escrow the servicer advanced for taxes and insurance, and, if a case has been filed, the lender's attorney fees and costs to date. The title company wires that exact amount at closing. The loan is paid in full, the mortgage is satisfied of record, and any pending case is dismissed because there is nothing left to foreclose.

Second mortgages, HELOCs, HOA balances, code liens and back taxes are paid the same way, in order of priority. What remains is yours. We pay the normal closing costs, there is no commission, and we do not ask you to catch up on anything first.

If the payoff is more than the house is worth, a normal sale cannot clear the loan and the conversation becomes a short sale. The lender, not us, decides whether to accept less, and approvals take months; tell us the balance and the servicer early. If a foreclosure of an owner-occupied home does go through, Fla. Stat. § 702.06 limits any deficiency to the gap between the judgment and the fair market value, and § 95.11(6)(g) gives the lender one year after the clerk issues the certificate following the sale to sue for it. Talk to a Florida attorney about those pieces.

What a sale now does to your credit, compared with a foreclosure

We are not credit counselors, so here is only what the published rules say. The late payments already reported stay on your credit report for up to seven years whatever you do next, the period the CFPB cites for most negative information. What a sale before judgment changes is everything after that line: the loan reports as paid in full and closed, no foreclosure is reported, and no judgment is recorded against you in Pinellas or Hillsborough public records.

The clearest measure of the difference is how long you would wait to get another mortgage. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide requires a seven-year wait after a completed foreclosure (three years with documented extenuating circumstances) and a four-year wait after a short sale or deed in lieu (two with extenuating circumstances). A sale that pays the loan in full is not a derogatory event on that list at all.

How we work when the clock is running

Owners call us at every stage of this, from one payment behind to the week before a sale date. The process is the same, just faster:

Call or text (727) 353-6206. Tell us the address, roughly what you owe, who the servicer is, and whether anything has been filed. None of that embarrasses us; it is arithmetic.
One 15–30 minute walkthrough; a relative, neighbor or lockbox works if you are not there.
A written cash offer, typically within 24 hours, with the math shown: renovated value, repairs, our costs and margin, the payoff, and what is left for you. If listing with an agent would net you more, we say so; see our compare page.
Closing at a local title company in as little as 7–14 days when title is clean, or on a later date you choose. If a sale date is already set, the title company or your attorney can ask the lender to postpone it for a pending closing.

We are a cash home buyer, not a law firm, lender or credit counselor. This page is general information about Florida and federal rules, not legal advice. For your situation, talk to a Florida attorney or a HUD-approved housing counselor.

How this typically goes. Here is how this typically goes: a couple in Pinellas Park is four payments behind after one of them lost a job. The servicer has sent the 45-day letter and turned down a modification because the income is not there, and nothing has been filed yet. They call us, we walk the house on a Saturday, and the offer shows the servicer's payoff next to the net to them. They close three weeks later at a title company in St. Petersburg; the lender is wired its payoff, the mortgage is satisfied, and the loan reports as paid in full with no foreclosure ever opened.

We are a cash home buyer, not a law firm. This page is general information about Florida law and local process, not legal advice. For advice on your situation, talk to a Florida attorney — we work with several and are glad to make an introduction.

FAQ

Questions sellers ask about this

I'm only two payments behind. Is it too early to talk to you?

No, and it is the best time. Nothing has been filed, no attorney fees have been added, and your credit has taken only the late marks. Talk to your servicer and a HUD-approved counselor about keeping the house first; if the numbers do not work, a sale in this window is the cleanest exit.

Will my lender let me sell when I'm behind?

You do not need the lender's permission to sell a house with a mortgage on it, as long as the sale pays the loan in full. The title company requests a payoff statement, wires the amount at closing, and the servicer releases the mortgage. Permission only comes into it in a short sale, where the lender is accepting less.

Does selling now keep a foreclosure off my credit?

If you close before a case is filed, there is nothing to report; the loan shows as paid and closed. If a case was filed and you close before judgment, the case is dismissed and no completed foreclosure is reported. The late payments already reported remain for up to seven years either way.

What if I owe more than the house is worth?

Then it is a short sale, and the lender decides whether to accept less than the balance. It can work, but approval takes months and is never certain. Tell us the balance and the servicer early; we will tell you honestly whether it is realistic or whether a modification is the better path for you.

What about my second mortgage or HELOC?

It is paid at closing the same way, after the first mortgage. The title company orders a payoff from each lienholder and pays them in order of priority from the purchase price. If the combined payoffs are more than the price, it becomes a short-sale conversation with the junior lender.

How fast can you actually close?

In as little as 7–14 days when title is clean. If a sale date has already been set, that is often enough time, and the title company or your attorney can ask the lender to postpone the sale for a pending closing. The sooner you call, the more room there is to work with.

Get your cash offer

Behind on the mortgage? Let's look at the numbers

One walkthrough, a written offer, typically within 24 hours, and the lender paid in full at closing.

$0 fees and no realtor commissions
We pay normal closing costs
Close in as little as 7–14 days — or on your schedule
Sell as-is: no repairs, no clean-up

Text or call (727) 353-6206

Get a Fair Cash Offer

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