Jacksonville Foreclosure Realtor

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 Florida is a judicial state

In Florida the lender does not simply post a notice and sell the house on the courthouse steps the next month. The lender files a lawsuit in circuit court and records a lis pendens, which is the public notice that the property is in a case. The owner is served. The owner can respond, try to reinstate the loan, or raise defenses. If the court enters a final judgment of foreclosure, that judgment states the amount due and orders the clerk of court to sell the property.

How long that takes is a fact about the particular case: service, whether anyone fought it, the court's calendar, and whether the owner cured the default. Quoting a number of months as if it were a rule would be a guess. We will not do that. If you are the owner in a case, talk to a Florida attorney before you rely on anything you read on a brokerage page. We are not that attorney, and we do not tell people to skip a hearing.

Florida Statutes section 45.031 is the judicial sales procedure the clerk follows after judgment. The clerk conducts the sale, then files a certificate of sale. If no objections to the sale are filed within 10 days after the certificate of sale, the clerk files a certificate of title and serves it on the parties. That 10 days is a paperwork window in the statute. It measures nothing about how long the lawsuit lasted before the auction. Objections to the amount of the bid have their own 10-day path in the same statute, and a fight about the bid amount does not, by itself, cloud the purchaser's title.

Section 45.0315 deals with the right to cure. Before the later of the clerk's filing of the certificate of sale, or the time stated in the judgment, the mortgagor or the holder of a subordinate interest may stop the foreclosure by paying the amount the judgment specifies. If that sentence describes your case, the person to call is a Florida attorney, not a listing agent the week of the sale.

You do not need to memorize the docket to buy a bank-owned house that is already on the market. You do need to know which of the three paths the address is on before you order an inspection, book a flight, or tell a lender the closing date. The path decides who signs the deed, who can agree to a repair, and whether a loan can finish in time.

 REO: the bank already owns it

REO means "real estate owned." The foreclosure already produced a certificate of title, or the bank otherwise took title, and an asset manager listed the house in the MLS. These are the foreclosure files a VA loan or an FHA loan can usually finance, and only if the house will pass appraisal. The price is not the test. The condition is.

The seller is the bank or the investor, not the family that used to live there. The bank's addendum usually controls where it conflicts with the standard contract. Read it before you fall in love with the floor plan. Themes you will see, which still vary by seller: the sale is as-is, the seller never lived in the house so the seller's disclosure is thin, repair requests are often refused, and the seller may insist on a title company or a closing office of its choosing. "Often" is not "always." The addendum in your hand is the one that counts.

As-is means the seller is not agreeing to fix the house because you asked. It does not mean your lender will ignore a missing roof, a missing kitchen, mold the appraiser treats as a health or structural problem, or utilities that are off so nothing can be tested. The appraisal still happens. If the house fails the minimum property requirements, the loan does not close until the problem is solved in a way the lender will accept, or the loan dies. On many REO addenda the bank will not be the one solving it. A cash buyer can choose to take that project. A VA buyer who needs to report to NAS Jacksonville or Mayport usually cannot.

Title still gets examined. Order a title commitment. A foreclosure judgment can cut off junior liens that were named in the case and properly served. It does not follow that every claim you care about is gone. Property taxes, some code-enforcement liens, and certain federal liens follow their own rules. Open permits live at the city or county building department. A listing remark that says the title is clear is not a commitment. Read the commitment, and read the exceptions.

Occupancy is a separate question from title. Many REOs are vacant. Some are not. If someone is living there, possession has to be spelled out in the contract. A VA or FHA purchase loan is for a house you will occupy. A house you cannot get into, or a house that is not safe to live in when you are supposed to close, does not meet that. We walk the ones a loan can actually finance. If the honest description is "cash project," we say that before you pay an inspector.

 Short sale: the owner is still on the deed

A short sale is still the owner's house. The contract is with the owner. The lender, or more than one lender, has to agree to take less than the debt, or there is no closing. A second mortgage, an association lien, a judgment, or a tax lien can stall the file after the first lender has said yes. Approval from one desk is not approval from every desk that has a claim.

There is no statute on this page that sets a number of weeks for that approval. Some files move. Some sit. Write the contract so your deadline is real and so you can leave if the approval does not come. If you have a report date, keep looking at houses that can close on that date. A short-sale approval is not a clear-to-close. The buyer's lender still has to appraise the house, clear title, and issue its own approval.

The house may look lived-in because people are living in it. Showings depend on the owner's cooperation. Condition runs from carefully kept to stripped of appliances. The same VA and FHA condition rules apply. The seller's lender, by agreeing to a short payoff, does not relax your lender's appraisal. As-is language in a short-sale approval does not patch a roof.

You are buying from the owner, so the deed you expect is the owner's deed, delivered only if the lienholders release in the manner the title company requires. Until those releases are in the commitment, you do not have a closing. Do not give notice on a rental, and do not schedule household goods, on a short-sale contract that still says "subject to lender approval" with no approval letter in the file.

 The clerk's sale

The clerk's sale is the auction after judgment. The terms sit in the judgment and in section 45.031: a deposit, a balance due on the clerk's schedule, and a buyer who takes the property in the condition it is in. You are often bidding on what you could see from the sidewalk, plus whatever a case file and a drive-by told you. You are not walking a listed house with a lockbox and a seller's disclosure.

A VA loan, an FHA loan, or a conventional loan that needs an appraisal, a repair, title review, and a clear-to-close does not fit that clock. Buyers who win these sales are paying cash, or they are using money that does not depend on an appraisal next week. If someone tells you a VA loan will win a clerk's bid the same afternoon, ask them to show you the last one they closed that way. We will not dress a courthouse sale up as a financed MLS purchase.

What you are buying, if the sale stands, is the right to a certificate of title from the clerk. That is not a warranty deed from a seller who lived there and agreed to your repair list. If the former occupant is still inside, getting possession is a later step. Budget for an unknown, not for a broom-clean house on the day you bid. Do not bid money you need for the next rent payment.

The search under this article does not include those auctions. It is active MLS property in Duval County and Clay County, newest first, with the board's foreclosure or REO flag turned on. If the board keeps short sales in a separate field, that field belongs in the search too, and the person who builds the search should note the field name. Listings that never entered the MLS, including a pure clerk auction, stay out. The wider foreclosure list we maintain is on the foreclosure page. St. Johns and Nassau foreclosures exist. They are not inside this Duval-and-Clay search. Ask if you need them.

 Surplus goes through the clerk

If the bid at the clerk's sale is more than the disbursements the judgment requires, the difference is surplus. Section 45.032 defines surplus as the funds remaining after payment of all disbursements required by the final judgment and shown on the certificate of disbursements. On filing the certificate of title, the clerk disburses the proceeds according to the judgment and files that certificate of disbursements.

The statute creates a rebuttable presumption that the owner of record on the date of the lis pendens is the person entitled to surplus, after subordinate lienholders who filed a claim on time. The certificate tells claimants to file with the clerk no later than the date the clerk reports the funds as unclaimed. If you miss the clerk's date, the statute says you are not entitled to the remaining funds, and after the funds are reported as unclaimed only the owner of record as of the lis pendens may claim them. A surplus under $10 escheats to the clerk. Those are the statute's rules, not a brokerage policy.

The realtor does not hold the surplus, does not cut that check, and does not decide whose lien gets paid. Claims go to the clerk of the court that handled the case. In Duval that is the Duval County Clerk of Courts. In Clay it is the Clay County clerk. Proceedings about surplus do not cloud the title of the purchaser at the sale. If you are a former owner hoping for leftover funds, read the certificate of disbursements and file with the clerk. If you are the buyer, surplus is not your windfall and it is not a credit on your closing statement.

 What a VA or FHA loan will and will not do

Both loans can buy an REO that will be your home, if the appraisal accepts the condition and the title work closes. Both will refuse to paper over a house that is not safe to live in. The failures we see most often are a bad or missing roof, active leaks, a missing kitchen, utilities that are off, mold tied to a structural or health problem, wood rot that has become structural, exposed wiring, and a heating or cooling system that does not function. A low price does not waive any of that.

FHA appraisers also flag defective paint. On older houses that call-out is common, and it can stop the loan until the surface is corrected the way that lender requires. Peeling paint on an REO is not a cosmetic note you can ignore because the bank wrote "as-is" on page one of the addendum. As-is binds the seller's repair duty. It does not bind the appraiser.

If the power and water are off, the appraiser may not be able to finish, and the systems cannot be tested. Someone has to get the utilities on. Banks are slow about work orders. Do not assume the listing agent can flip a breaker the morning of the appraisal. Build that delay into your calendar. We still will not quote a number of days, because each asset manager is different. Ask on that address.

Hire your own home inspector. The appraisal is a lender's value and a minimum-property check. It is not the inspection you would want before you move a family in. On an as-is REO, the inspection is how you decide to stay in the contract or leave during the period the contract gives you. It is not a punch list the bank has promised to complete. If the inspection shows a problem the loan cannot close on, the useful move is usually to walk, not to argue with an asset manager in another state.

Occupancy is part of the loan, not a footnote. A VA purchase and an FHA purchase are for a house you will live in. A flip you will never occupy, a rental you will never move into, or a clerk-sale bid you cannot finance are the wrong product. Tell the lender the truth. The homestead application you file later asks a related question: did you own and occupy this house as your permanent residence on January 1.

A condo REO adds a project test. The unit can look fine and the building can still be ineligible for the loan you are using. Ask the lender before you spend the inspection money. A single-family house skips that project approval and still has to be safe, sound, and fit to occupy.

Flood insurance is its own gate. If the building is in a Special Flood Hazard Area, a federally related mortgage, including VA and FHA, requires flood insurance. Zone AE is that kind of zone: the 1 percent annual-chance flood, with a base flood elevation. An elevation certificate can change a premium. It does not remove the zone. A Letter of Map Amendment is a separate FEMA process. We do not promise one. Zone X is outside the Special Flood Hazard Area, so the lender does not have to require flood insurance there, and Zone X is not a promise that the lot never takes water. Look the address up at the FEMA Map Service Center before you write. We will not quote a flood premium. There is not a flat price by zone.

 The prior homestead does not follow the house

Buying an REO that you will occupy still requires a homestead application in your name. The prior owner's exemption does not follow the house. Homestead is personal to the owner who qualified, under section 196.031. It is not a feature of the lot, like the sewer connection. Their Save Our Homes cap, section 193.155, does not stay behind for you either. When ownership changes, assessed value generally moves toward just value, aside from the narrow transfers the statute itself exempts. Portability is Form DR-501T, and the prior owner files it with the county where they claim their next homestead. It is their benefit. It is not a discount waiting for the next buyer.

The tax bill in the listing photos may still show the old exemption. Use that bill as a warning. The payment you will owe, once the cap resets and before your own exemption is on the roll, can be higher than the figure in the remarks. Non-ad valorem fees on the same notice, for things like solid waste or fire, do not shrink when an exemption grows. Read the TRIM notice. Do not use a countywide millage. We will not invent one.

You must hold title and occupy the house as your permanent residence on January 1 of the tax year. One permanent residence. A residency exemption in another state can knock the Florida exemption out. The Social Security number is mandatory under section 196.011. A wrongful claim can create a lien, a 50 percent penalty, and 15 percent interest under section 196.161. As of fall 2026. The timely window for the 2026 tax year is closed. March 1, 2026 was a Sunday, so the timely deadline was Monday, March 2, 2026. Late filing is only for extenuating circumstances, generally until 25 days after that county mails the TRIM notice. Do not assume the late window is still open. Ask the appraiser that day.

If you close on an REO this fall and you move in by January 1, 2027, you are filing for the 2027 tax year, by March 1, 2027. The closing does not file it. The bank does not file it. You file it with the property appraiser for the county where the house sits.

For 2026, the first $25,000 of assessed value comes off all levies, including school taxes. The additional exemption is $26,411, and it applies only to non-school levies, only on assessed value between $50,000 and $76,411. The band from $25,001 to $50,000 stays taxable. The CPI change used for that additional amount is 2.7 percent. The Save Our Homes cap for an existing homestead in 2026 is also 2.7 percent, the lesser of 3 percent or CPI. That cap limits assessed value. It does not cap the tax bill, and it does not transfer to you with the keys. A senior local-option exemption, for someone age 65 on January 1 with household income at or under $38,686 for 2026, exists only where that county has adopted it. Ask. Do not assume an extra $50,000.

Duval County

File Duval homestead with the Duval County Property Appraiser. Online: homestead.coj.net. Phone (904) 255-5900. In person: 231 E. Forsyth Street, Suite 260, Jacksonville, FL 32202. The deed must be in your name before the online system will take the application. The office says to allow about 60 days after closing for the deed to post. If it has not posted, file in person. The online session does not save. Plan about an hour.

Bring a Florida driver license or ID with the homestead address, the license number, and the issue date. Bring the vehicle tag, voter registration if you are registered, date of birth, Social Security number, the date you became a Florida resident, the date you occupied the house, the purchase date, and the mailing address on your last IRS return. Adding a person, or adding an extra exemption onto a homestead already on the roll, must be done in person. If a trust will hold title, bring the trust. Beneficial title is required. Have the closing attorney or a Florida attorney confirm the trust qualifies.

The bill is sent by the Duval County Tax Collector: jacksonville.gov and duvaltc.com, phone (904) 255-5700, email taxcollector@coj.net, main office 231 E. Forsyth Street, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The discount schedule that office published is 4 percent if paid by November 30, 3 percent by December 31, 2 percent by January 31, 1 percent by February 28, then due by March 31 before the bill is delinquent. Confirm the dates on your bill. The deed records at the Duval County Clerk of Courts. Duval County homes are the wider county search, not only the foreclosure flag.

Clay County

This page's search includes Clay, so an Orange Park or Middleburg REO is filed in Green Cove Springs, not at the Duval desk. Property Appraiser Tracy Scott Drake: ccpao.com, online at exemption.ccpao.com, phone (904) 284-6305, extension 1. Office: County Administration Building, second floor, 477 Houston Street, Green Cove Springs, FL 32043, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The difference that matters: a timely Clay filing can be online, by mail, or in person. After the March 1 deadline, the office says you must file in person, with a late-file explanation, and only up to 25 days after the TRIM notice. They want a Florida driver license or ID at the homestead address, plus one more item: voter card, vehicle registration, W-2, federal return, or utility bill. Tax Collector Diane Hutchings is at claycountytax.com, phone (904) 269-6320, property-tax line (904) 269-6395. The ordinary Clay search, separate from the foreclosure flag, is Clay County homes.

If the house is across the line

St. Johns County filings go to Eddie Creamer's office, sjcpa.gov, phone (904) 827-5500. The difference that matters there: the Florida driver license must show the homestead address, and a license updated after November 1, 2023 may have a new number. Upload the new card. The tax collector is at sjctax.us, phone (904) 209-2250.

Nassau County filings go to A. Michael Hickox's office, ncpafl.com, phone (904) 491-7300. The difference that matters: 2027 applications are already open. A 2026 purchase you occupy by January 1, 2027 is filed for 2027 through March 1, 2027. Offices are in Yulee, Fernandina Beach, and Callahan. The tax collector is at nassautaxes.com, phone (904) 491-7400.

Columbia County, which is Lake City, is Jeff Hampton's office, columbia.floridapa.com, phone (386) 758-1083, 135 NE Hernando Avenue, Suite 238, Lake City. The difference that matters: the initial application must be filed in person. Do not use a third-party site that offers to file it online. The exemptions page is ccpafl.com. The Northeast Florida MLS may not carry Columbia County, so do not expect those houses in the Duval and Clay search on this page.

 How to start a file

Call (904) 309-0609 with the address if you have one, or with the side of town and the loan type if you do not. Say whether you will live in the house. We will tell you which of the three paths you are on, whether a VA or FHA appraisal has a chance, and which county desk gets the homestead after closing. We will also tell you when the honest answer is cash, or when the honest answer is to keep looking at houses that can close.

New listings that are not limited to the foreclosure flag are on just listed. Use that when the foreclosure search is the wrong pile and you still need a house on a report date.

Foreclosure listings  |  Duval County homes  |  Clay County homes  |  Just listed

Military Realty of Florida. (904) 309-0609.