Florida

Governing law & venue

• Florida Probate Code: Fla. Stat. ch. 731–735 and the Florida Probate Rules.
• Filed in the circuit court of the county where the decedent was domiciled.

Two main paths

• Formal administration — used for most estates; court appoints a personal representative who marshals assets, notices creditors, and addresses claims.
• Summary administration (ch. 735) — available when the non-exempt estate is $75,000 or less or the decedent has been deceased more than two years. Faster, but no personal representative is appointed.

Creditor claims

• Claim window: 3 months from first publication of notice to creditors.
• Statute of repose: 2 years.
• Often controls timing for clearing liens and resolving disputed debts.

Homestead & heirs

• Constitutional homestead protection: Art. X, §4.
• Devise/descent: Fla. Stat. §732.401 and §732.4015.
• Homestead does not count toward the $75,000 summary administration threshold.
• Surviving spouse and minor child rules heavily shape what heirs actually receive.

Why it matters for operators

Florida probate is where heirship gaps, surviving-spouse elections, and homestead status intersect with title clouds, foreclosure timing, surplus-fund claims, and tax-deed risk — creating consistent deal flow around inherited and partially abandoned property.

Governing law & venue

• Florida is a judicial foreclosure state.
• Mortgage foreclosure: Fla. Stat. ch. 702.
• Judicial sales procedure: Fla. Stat. ch. 45.
• Filed in the circuit court of the county where the property is located.

Filing & pleadings

• Lender records a lis pendens and files a verified complaint.
• Complaint must comply with §702.015, including the original-note certification and lost-note affidavit requirements.
• Borrower has 20 days to answer; default can follow if no response.

Path to final judgment

• §702.065 — in uncontested cases where deficiency is waived, the court enters final judgment within 90 days of close of pleadings.
• §702.10 — order to show cause path can accelerate judgment when the borrower has no meritorious defense.
• Contested timelines vary widely with motions, discovery, and service issues.

Sale & title

• §45.031 — clerk schedules sale 20–35 days after final judgment.
• Almost all sales run on the county clerk's online auction platform (Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Orange, Hillsborough, Duval, etc.).
• Successful bidder receives a certificate of sale; after the 10-day objection window, the clerk issues a certificate of title.

Surplus funds

• Disbursement governed by §45.032.
• Rebuttable presumption: the owner of record at lis pendens is entitled to surplus, after timely subordinate lienholder claims.
• Owners/heirs typically have 60 days to file before funds are reported unclaimed.
• §45.034 surplus trustee process can apply after 1 year.

Practical timing & 2025 context

• Statewide filing-to-sale: roughly 8–14 months, with material variation by county.
• Florida led the nation in foreclosure activity through 2025, driven by post-pandemic backlog clearance, insurance-cost shock, condo special-assessment pressure (Surfside-related structural-integrity rules), and softening in select coastal markets.

Florida residential evictions are governed primarily by Fla. Stat. ch. 83 (Part II) and are filed in county court. The process typically starts with the correct written notice: for nonpayment of rent, a 3‑day notice to pay or vacate (excluding weekends/holidays) under §83.56(3); for lease noncompliance, a 7‑day notice to cure under §83.56(2)(b); and for certain serious/repeat violations, a 7‑day notice to terminate under §83.56(2)(a). Month‑to‑month terminations use a longer “notice to quit” period based on the tenancy term (commonly 15 days before the next rent due date for monthly tenancies).

If the tenant does not comply with the notice, the landlord files an eviction complaint (and often a separate count for damages/back rent). After service, tenants generally must respond quickly; in rent‑withholding defenses, Florida’s rent registry/deposit requirement is a major leverage point—failure to deposit disputed rent can lead to default. Uncontested cases can move fast; contested cases (motions, jury demand on damages, service issues, and local docket congestion) can extend timelines.

When the landlord obtains a final judgment for possession, the clerk issues a writ of possession to the sheriff. The sheriff posts the writ and schedules the physical set‑out. In practice, investors and property operators should plan for a wide timeline range—often a few weeks in clean defaults, but several weeks to multiple months when service is difficult, the tenant contests, or sheriff scheduling backlogs exist—so county-by-county court and sheriff capacity matters.

Governing law & venue

• Florida Quiet Title statute: Fla. Stat. ch. 65.
• Key sections: §65.011 (jurisdiction), §65.021 (parties), §65.061 (tax-deed and state-conveyance lands), §65.081 (tax-title actions).
• Filed in the circuit court of the county where the property is located.

Common use cases

• Tax deed acquisitions needing marketable, insurable title.
• Foreclosure defects and post-sale title cleanup.
• Missing or unknown heirs after probate gaps.
• Defective deeds, ancient mortgages, and lingering lien residuals.
• Boundary disputes and fraudulent conveyances.

Procedure

• Complaint names all known interested parties.
• Unknowns and absentees are addressed through service by publication.
• When the action is based on a tax deed, plaintiff need not deraign title beyond issuance of the tax deed.
• Only true defense in a tax-deed quiet title is that the prior owner paid the taxes before issuance.
• Final judgment is recorded to confirm marketable title.

Typical timing

• Uncontested cases: roughly 3–6 months.
• Contested matters or those requiring guardian ad litem appointments and complex publication can extend longer.

Why it matters for operators

For tax-deed investors, foreclosure surplus purchasers, heirs cleaning up inherited homestead property, and operators acquiring discount title at auction, quiet title is the practical bridge between a county-deed product and a title-insurable, marketable interest.

Federal districts

• Northern District of Florida — Tallahassee, Pensacola, Gainesville, Panama City.
• Middle District of Florida — Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Fort Myers (one of the busiest consumer venues in the country).
• Southern District of Florida — Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach.

Most common chapters

• Chapter 7 — liquidation with discharge of unsecured debts.
• Chapter 13 — 3–5 year repayment plan; can cure mortgage arrears and strip wholly unsecured junior liens on non-homestead property.

Automatic stay (11 U.S.C. §362)

• Triggered at filing.
• Stops foreclosure sales, many evictions, garnishments, and most collection activity.
• Lifts on dismissal, motion for relief, or discharge.

Florida exemption scheme

• Florida residents meeting the 730-day domicile rule opt out of federal exemptions.
• Homestead exemption (Art. X, §4; Fla. Stat. §§222.01–.02): unlimited equity on a primary residence within ½ acre in a municipality or 160 acres elsewhere.
• Subject to the 1,215-day acquisition look-back under 11 U.S.C. §522(p).
• $1,000 motor vehicle exemption.
• $1,000 personal property exemption (plus a $4,000 wildcard under §222.25(4) when no homestead is claimed).
• Retirement accounts and head-of-family wages under §222.11.

Why it matters for operators

• Frequently delays foreclosure timelines.
• Reorders surplus and lien claims.
• Can convert junior liens into general unsecured claims in Chapter 13.
• Changes negotiating leverage for short payoffs, deeds in lieu, and post-judgment workouts.
• Early signal on a borrower's exposure to Chapter 7 vs. Chapter 13 is often the single most important variable in pricing Florida distressed deals.