Stop Foreclosure in Fort Lauderdale? We buy Fort Lauderdale houses for cash.

If your lender has started foreclosure on your Florida house, you still have time and you still have options — Florida is a judicial state, the auction is months away, and Byron can close on your house for cash before your sale date so the loan gets paid off, the lis pendens releases, and you walk away clean.

Why Sell to Byron Before the Auction

• We close before your sale date. Byron has bought houses with auctions scheduled 14, 10, even 5 days out. As long as a Florida title company can issue a commitment, we can close.
• Your loan gets paid in full at the closing table. No deficiency judgment under §702.06, F.S. No lingering balance. The wire hits your servicer, the lis pendens releases, the suit dismisses.
• No fees, no commissions, no repairs. You don't pay closing costs. You don't pay a 6% Realtor commission you can't afford. You don't fix a thing — we buy as-is on the FAR/BAR ASIS-7 contract, sometimes with the inspection period waived entirely.
• Cash advance available before closing. If you need money to move, we can advance funds against the closing so you're not waiting on the wire to find a new place.
• No upfront fees, ever. The CFPB's MARS Rule (12 CFR Part 1015) makes upfront fees on foreclosure-rescue work illegal. Byron has never collected a dime upfront in 15 years.
• Family-owned, BBB A+, 4.9 stars across 87+ Google reviews. 500+ Florida closings. Byron answers the phone himself at 951-331-3844.

How It Works When You're in Foreclosure

Step 1 — Tell Byron where you are in the timeline. One call. Five minutes. Are you 30 days behind, 90 days behind, served with the summons, post-summary-judgment, or do you have a sale date on the calendar? Byron has bought houses at every stage and the playbook is different at each one.

Step 2 — Get your no-obligation cash offer in 24 hours. Byron orders a payoff letter from your servicer (or you forward one), pulls comps, and emails you a written offer with a closing date that beats your auction. Proof of funds attached. No pressure.

Step 3 — Close at a Florida title company on your timeline. We can fund in 7-14 days. The title company wires your servicer the full payoff, files the satisfaction of mortgage, releases the lis pendens, and the foreclosure case dismisses. You leave with cash, a clean credit slate, and the lender off your back.

The Florida Foreclosure Timeline (Ch. 702, F.S.) and Where Byron Fits

Florida is one of about 22 states that requires foreclosures to go through the courts. There's no power-of-sale shortcut, no trustee, no 90-day notice and you're done. Your lender has to file a lawsuit, serve you, win a final judgment, and have the clerk auction your house on the courthouse steps. That process is slow and full of stop points — and every stop point is an exit ramp Byron can use.

Stage 1 — Pre-Suit Default (Day 1 to Day 120)

You miss a payment. By Day 30 the servicer mails a late notice. By Day 45 a "Notice of Default" letter goes out. Federal mortgage servicing rules under 12 CFR 1024.39 require the servicer to wait until you are 120 days delinquent before filing the foreclosure complaint, except in narrow circumstances. Florida statutes also require a pre-suit demand or "breach letter" giving you a chance to cure.

What you keep: Possession. Title. Equity. Your name on the deed. What you risk: Late fees, default interest, attorney pre-suit fees being added to the payoff. Your credit score has already dropped 80-110 points by Day 90. Byron's move: This is the cheapest stage to sell. Payoff is lowest. Equity intact. We can close in 7-10 days, well before any complaint gets filed. The case never lands on your record.

Stage 2 — Lawsuit Filed and Lis Pendens Recorded (Month 4 to Month 8)

The lender's foreclosure attorney files the complaint in your county circuit court and records a lis pendens under §48.23, F.S. the same day. The clerk hand-stamps your case number. A process server tries to hand you the summons.

What is a lis pendens, in plain English? A two-page notice the lender records in the official county records that says "the title to this property is in active litigation." It doesn't transfer title. It doesn't lock you out. What it does is put every Realtor, every title insurer, and every retail buyer on notice — meaning your house is now functionally unsellable on the open market until the suit dismisses or a final judgment enters. The MLS becomes useless. Cash buyers like Byron are the workaround.

Once served, you have 20 days to file an answer under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.140. Miss that window and the lender moves for a clerk's default. File a timely answer (or hire an attorney to) and the case enters the discovery and motion phase, which typically runs 3-5 months.

What you keep: Possession. Title. Even your right to live in the house, rent-free, while the case pends. What you risk: A default judgment if you ignore the summons. Public-record damage — anyone running a property search now sees the lis pendens. Byron's move: Cash sale collapses the lis pendens. We pay off the loan at closing, the lender's attorney files a voluntary dismissal, and the lis pendens releases by recorded notice. We've done this dozens of times in every county we serve.

Stage 3 — Summary Judgment and Sale Date Set (Month 8 to Month 12)

If you don't have a defense — and most foreclosure defendants don't — the lender files a motion for summary judgment. Under §702.10, F.S. a hearing cannot be set sooner than 20 days after service. The judge reviews the note, the mortgage, the assignments, and the payment history, signs the Final Judgment of Foreclosure, and orders the clerk to auction the property.

Under §45.031, F.S. the clerk's sale must take place no fewer than 20 days and no more than 35 days after entry of the final judgment, unless the judgment specifies a different date. The clerk publishes notice of sale once a week for two consecutive weeks. The sale date hits the public foreclosure auction calendar.

This is when most homeowners panic. Don't.

Florida statute §702.015 plus the case law surrounding it gives you a right to reinstate or pay off the loan up to the moment the clerk files the certificate of sale. You can stop the auction with a wire that morning if you have the funds. A Byron cash close that funds the day before the sale stops the auction cold.

What you keep: Possession (still). Title (still — until the certificate of title issues post-auction). What you risk: Almost everything. A judgment that's now public on the docket. Mounting attorney's fees. A 35-day shot clock to either pay off, sell, file Chapter 13, or watch the auction happen. Byron's move: Speed. We've closed in 5 business days from contract signing when the auction was breathing down our neck. Bring us in early in this stage, not late.

Stage 4 — Courthouse Sale and Certificate of Title (Month 12+)

The clerk auctions your house at the time and place set in the judgment — many Florida counties now hold these online (Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough, Orange, Duval all use realforeclose.com platforms). Highest bidder wins. The clerk issues a certificate of sale that day or the next business day. Then the 10-day objection period under §45.031 runs.

If no objections file (or they're overruled), the clerk issues the certificate of title on day 11. That's the moment legal title passes to the auction buyer.

Under §45.0315 your right of redemption — the right to pay off and keep the house — terminates at the later of the certificate of sale filing or the deadline in the judgment. Florida does not have a post-auction statutory redemption window. Once the certificate of title issues, you are out as the owner.

What you keep: Surplus funds, if the auction price exceeded the judgment amount plus costs (rare but it happens — file the §45.032 surplus claim within 60 days). The right to live in the house until the new owner serves an eviction. What you lose: Title. Equity. The home itself. Byron's move: Even now, we can sometimes help. If the certificate of title hasn't issued yet, we can wire the certificate-of-sale buyer their money and have them assign the bid back. Post-title, we can negotiate cash-for-keys with the new owner so you move with money in your pocket instead of a sheriff at the door.

Lis Pendens — The Five Most Misunderstood Letters in Florida Real Estate

People hear "lis pendens" and assume the bank already owns the house. They don't. A lis pendens (Latin for "suit pending") is just a notice. Under §48.23, F.S. it does three things:

1. Cures any later buyer's claim of being "bona fide." Anyone who buys after the lis pendens records takes title subject to whatever the court eventually rules.
2. Stays in effect for one year unless extended — though it's almost always extended in active foreclosure cases.
3. Releases automatically when the case dismisses or upon court order after final judgment satisfies.

A lis pendens does not prevent you from signing a contract, accepting earnest money, or closing on a sale. It just means the closing has to retire the underlying claim — i.e., pay the lender off in full or get a written short-sale approval. That's it. Byron has bought lis-pendens houses in every Florida county we work in. Title insurers issue policies on these closings every day.

Florida Is Judicial — Why That Matters

About 28 states use non-judicial foreclosure — Texas, California, Georgia, Tennessee. In those states the lender can post a notice of sale, wait the statutory period (sometimes as short as 21 days), and auction the house on the courthouse steps without ever filing a lawsuit. Power-of-sale clauses in the deed of trust authorize it.

Florida does not allow this. Every Florida foreclosure must go through the circuit court, which means:

• You must be served with a summons by a process server or by publication.
• You have a 20-day answer window to defend the suit under Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.140.
• The lender has to prove its case — chain of title on the note, standing to enforce, default, amount due — under Florida summary judgment standards.
• A judge has to sign the final judgment. A clerk doesn't have authority.
• The auction date is set 20-35 days post-judgment under §45.031 — not 21 days post-notice.

The byproduct of all this process is time. The average judicial foreclosure in Florida runs 8-12 months from the first missed payment to the auction; contested cases routinely push past 18 months. That's 240-360 days of runway to negotiate, sell, refinance, or restructure. Don't waste it.

The Florida Right of Redemption — The Honest Version

Most blogs out there butcher this. Here's the truth, citation included.

Under §45.0315, F.S., "at any time before the later of 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 homeowner (or any junior lienholder) "may cure his or her indebtedness and prevent a foreclosure sale by paying the amount of moneys specified in the judgment, order, or decree of foreclosure."

Translation: you can pay off and keep the house up until the moment the clerk files the certificate of sale — usually the same day as the auction or one business day after. After that filing? You're done. There is no post-sale statutory redemption period in Florida. Some other states give you 6 months, 12 months, or even longer to buy back — Florida does not. Anyone who tells you otherwise is reading Texas law, not Florida law.

Practically, this means a Byron cash close that funds the day before your scheduled auction can stop the sale. A close that funds the day after the certificate of sale records cannot — at that point we'd be negotiating with the auction buyer, not with you. Don't wait.

What You Keep, What You Lose, At Each Stage

Translation: every stage you wait, the math gets worse. Selling at Stage 1 typically nets you the most cash because attorney fees haven't piled up yet. Selling at Stage 4 leaves you with nothing but the right to claim surplus funds — if there are any.

Why Selling Beats Letting It Go to Auction

People sometimes call Byron and say "why don't I just let the bank take it back?" Here's why that's almost always the wrong play in Florida:

• Credit damage. A completed foreclosure cuts a credit score by 100-160 points and reports for seven years — Fair Credit Reporting Act §605(a)(2). A full-payoff cash sale (or even a short sale) reports as "settled" and clears in 2-3 years.
• Future mortgage qualification. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac currently require a 7-year wait post-foreclosure before you can get another conventional loan. After a cash sale where the loan was paid in full? Zero wait. After a short sale? Four years (Fannie) or two years with extenuating circumstances.
• Deficiency judgment exposure. Under §702.06, F.S., the lender can file a deficiency action within one year after the certificate of title issues, chasing you personally for the gap between the auction price and your judgment balance. Auctions almost always come in below market — that gap is real money. A cash sale that pays the loan in full eliminates the deficiency entirely.
• Tax consequences of canceled debt. A foreclosure or short sale on a non-primary-residence property can trigger 1099-C cancellation-of-debt income taxable as ordinary income. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act has been extended through 2025 for primary residences, but rentals and second homes still get hit. A full-payoff cash sale generates no 1099-C because no debt is canceled.
• Public record. A foreclosure judgment is a permanent public-record entry on your name. A cash sale shows as a normal warranty deed.

How a Cash Sale to Byron Works at Each Stage

Pre-Suit (Day 1-120)

You're in default but no lawsuit yet. Byron orders a payoff. We sign a FAR/BAR As-Is contract with a 7-day inspection (often waived) and a 10-14 day close. Title runs. We close. The servicer wires the payoff. Your account goes to "paid in full." You walk with the difference.

Post-Lis-Pendens (Month 4-8)

Same playbook, plus we coordinate with the lender's foreclosure attorney for a 30-day voluntary dismissal upon receipt of the wired payoff. The lis pendens releases by recorded notice within 7-14 days post-closing. The case docket shows "Closed — voluntarily dismissed."

Post-Summons / Pre-Judgment (Month 5-9)

We accelerate. Byron's title underwriter is briefed. We can fund in as little as 5 business days. We've closed deals where the answer deadline was 6 days out and the buyer (us) wired the payoff before any default got taken.

Post-Judgment, Pre-Sale (Month 11+)

Speed mode. Florida statute lets you cure up to certificate-of-sale filing (§45.0315). We've funded payoffs the morning of the auction. Bring us in the second the judgment hits — the longer you wait, the tighter the wire window gets.

Pre-Sale, Last 5 Days

Doable but tight. We'd ask the foreclosure attorney to confirm payoff and stipulate to a sale cancellation upon wire receipt. Title sometimes won't underwrite this fast — but Byron's underwriter will, on a known seller and clean chain of title.

Short Sale (Underwater at Any Stage)

If the loan balance exceeds the cash value of the house, we negotiate directly with the lender's loss mitigation department for a discounted payoff. Lenders approve these constantly because they net more than the foreclosure auction. Allow 30-90 days for short-sale approval. We've negotiated five-figure principal reductions on Byron deals where the homeowner thought they had no equity to work with.

Short Sales — When You Owe More Than the House Is Worth

A short sale is exactly what it sounds like: the lender accepts a payoff "short" of what's actually owed. Florida lenders approve these because they avoid the cost of foreclosing (attorney fees, court costs, property maintenance, REO management, eventual auction discount).

How it works with Byron:

1. We agree on a purchase price based on as-is fair market value.
2. You sign a short-sale authorization letting us talk to your lender's loss mitigation team.
3. We submit the offer with a hardship letter, financials, and comps.
4. The lender's BPO (broker price opinion) usually comes back within 30-45 days.
5. If they approve, we close at the approved number and you walk with zero out of pocket — most short-sale approvals waive deficiency too.

Credit impact of a short sale: roughly half of a foreclosure's score hit, gone in 2-3 years instead of 7. Fannie Mae mortgage waiting period: 4 years (vs. 7 for foreclosure).

Byron Is Not a Foreclosure Rescue Scammer — Here's Why

Florida's distressed-property market is full of operators who prey on homeowners in default. The CFPB has rules. The FTC has rules. Florida AG has rules. Byron complies with all of them.

• MARS Rule (12 CFR Part 1015) — federal regulation banning advance fees, false promises, and equity-stripping schemes by foreclosure-rescue companies. Byron collects zero upfront fees — period.
• Florida's Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Prevention Act (§501.1377, F.S.) — bans equity-skimming, lease-buyback scams, and any contract that requires the homeowner to give up title in exchange for a future option to repurchase. Byron's contracts are simple as-is purchases — title transfers to us at closing, you get cash, end of relationship.
• Florida deceptive-trade-practices statutes (§§501.201-501.213) — Byron's offers are written, transparent, and good-faith.
• No upfront fees. No "loan modification" promises. No deeds-in-lieu signed before closing. No buying your house at $1 with a "rent it back from us" pitch. If anyone offers you that, run.

What Byron does: signs a standard FAR/BAR ASIS-7 purchase contract, deposits earnest money in a Florida-licensed title company's escrow, closes by warranty deed, wires the payoff to your servicer, and hands you a check (or wire) for the rest. All public, all on the record, all by the book.

City Circuits We Buy In

We close foreclosure-stage deals across all major Florida judicial circuits:

• Miami — Miami-Dade County, 11th Judicial Circuit. See Miami foreclosure deep-dive.
• Tampa — Hillsborough County, 13th Judicial Circuit. See Tampa foreclosure deep-dive.
• Jacksonville — Duval County, 4th Judicial Circuit. See Jacksonville foreclosure deep-dive.
• Orlando — Orange County, 9th Judicial Circuit. See Orlando foreclosure deep-dive.

If your county isn't listed, call anyway — Byron buys in every Florida county.

What Sets Byron Apart on Foreclosure Deals

• Speed. 5-day close on file when the auction calendar required it.
• Direct buyer. Byron is the buyer of record — not a wholesaler shopping your contract to investors. Proof of funds attached to every offer.
• Stage-specific playbooks. We've closed at every stage of the Florida judicial foreclosure timeline. We know the procedural moves.
• Title-team relationships. Our underwriters know how to insure over an active lis pendens with a same-day payoff. Most retail closings can't.
• Cash-for-keys flexibility. Need 30 extra days to move? Done. Need a leaseback? Done. Need cash before closing to put down on a rental? We've advanced funds.
• Spanish-speaking team for Miami and Orlando. Hablamos español.
• 15+ years, 500+ Florida transactions, BBB A+, 4.9 stars across 87+ Google reviews.

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Ready to Stop Your Florida Foreclosure?

Time is the one variable in a Florida foreclosure you cannot get back. Every day you wait is another day of attorney fees added to the payoff, another day closer to the certificate of sale, another day your credit drops a few more points. Byron answers the phone himself. One call gives you a written offer in 24 hours, a closing date that beats your auction, and a clean walk-away from a situation that's been keeping you up at night.

Call Byron at 951-331-3844 or get your offer online. No upfront fees, no obligation, no pressure — just a real number from a real Florida cash buyer who has done this 500+ times.

Page current as of May 2026. Florida statute citations from R13 source-of-truth file. Byron Buys Houses does not provide legal advice — for case-specific questions, consult a Florida foreclosure-defense attorney.