Every option below is real, and none of them is guaranteed to work for your specific situation — that depends on your numbers, your timeline, and which stage of the process you’re in. This is meant to lay out the order most homeowners should check things in, not to sell you on any one path.
Why the order matters
Homeowners often hear about the option furthest from where they actually are — a company advertising a sale-leaseback when a simple forbearance call would have solved it, or advice to “just refinance” when a case is already three months from a sale date and no lender will touch it in time. Working through the options in order, starting with the cheapest and least disruptive, means you don’t give up more than the situation actually requires.
Step 1: Talk to your servicer before anything else
If you’ve missed one or two payments, your mortgage servicer is legally required to discuss loss mitigation options with you, including forbearance (a temporary pause or reduction in payments) and loan modification (a permanent change to your loan terms). This is almost always the cheapest option available, because it doesn’t require selling or giving up ownership. Call before you’re far behind — servicers have more flexibility earlier in a delinquency than after a case is filed.
Step 2: Get free counseling before you get a notice
A HUD-approved housing counselor (find one at hud.gov/counseling) will review your specific numbers at no cost and tell you honestly which options actually apply to you. This step is worth doing even if you’re fairly sure you already know your options — counselors see servicer behavior across many homeowners and often catch things an individual borrower wouldn’t know to ask about.
Step 3: Understand what happens once a case is filed
In Florida, foreclosure on a mortgage is a judicial process — it goes through the court system, under Fla. Stat. ch. 45. The lender files a complaint, records a lis pendens against the property (public notice that the case is pending), and you’re served with the complaint. You generally have 20 days to respond. If you don’t respond, or after the case runs its course, the court can enter a final judgment setting a sale date.
If you have a legitimate defense — the servicer didn’t follow required notice procedures, there’s a dispute about the amount owed, or the loan was improperly transferred — an attorney can raise it. A defense doesn’t guarantee you keep the home, but it can extend the timeline and sometimes creates leverage for a better resolution.
Step 4: If the mortgage is genuinely unaffordable going forward
If loss mitigation with your current servicer doesn’t get you to an affordable payment, and you still want to stay in the home, a sale-leaseback — like our HomeAgain program — is one option: you sell the home, the proceeds pay off the mortgage and resolve the case, and you lease the property back with an option to buy it again later. This isn’t the cheapest option if a modification would have worked, and it isn’t right for every property — it depends on how much real equity is left after payoffs and closing costs. See our HomeAgain page for the specifics, including what you give up.
Step 5: If you’d rather not stay in the home
A straight sale — on the open market, or to a cash buyer — before the sale date lets you control the price and timeline instead of letting the court process run to a forced sale. This generally nets more cash than losing the home at auction, and it avoids a foreclosure showing on your record in the same way a completed foreclosure does.
Step 6: If the sale already happened
If your home was sold at a foreclosure sale for more than what was owed plus costs, you may be able to claim the surplus. Florida law (Fla. Stat. § 45.032) sets out a process through the clerk of court for former owners to claim these funds — it is not automatic, and there are deadlines, so check with the clerk’s office for your county promptly after the sale.
A note on tax deed and HOA foreclosures
Not every foreclosure is about a mortgage. Unpaid property taxes can lead to a tax deed sale under Fla. Stat. ch. 197, on its own separate timeline from a mortgage foreclosure. Unpaid HOA or condo association dues can lead to an association foreclosure under Fla. Stat. § 720.3085. Each has its own notice requirements and deadlines — if you’re dealing with one of these instead of, or alongside, a mortgage default, the specific rules that apply are different, and it’s worth confirming which process you’re actually in before you act.
What documents to have ready
Whichever step you’re acting on, gather these before you call anyone — a counselor, an attorney, your servicer, or us: your most recent mortgage statement, any notice or complaint you were served with (if a case has been filed), your last two pay stubs or a summary of current income, and a rough estimate of what you believe the home is worth. Having these ready cuts real time off every conversation that follows, because the first question anyone asks is some version of “where exactly are you in the process, and what are the numbers.”
The honest bottom line
There is no single “best” option — the right one depends on how much time is left before a sale date, how much equity is actually in the property after what’s owed, and whether staying in the home matters more to you than maximizing cash. Whatever you choose, get independent advice before you sign anything, including from us.