Broward County Foreclosure Auction 2026: 9 Steps to Win

The Broward County foreclosure auction is run entirely online by the Clerk of Courts at broward.realforeclose.com, under the judicial sale procedure of section 45.031, Florida Statutes. You register in advance, post the advertised 5 percent deposit, bid against other buyers and the plaintiff's hidden credit bid, and if you win, pay the balance by the clerk's advertised deadline, then receive a certificate of sale and, if no objection is filed within 10 days of that filing, the certificate of title. Here is each step, the real costs, and the traps.

What is the Broward County foreclosure auction, and who runs it?

The Broward County foreclosure auction is a judicial sale conducted by the Clerk of the Circuit Court, not by the lender and not by a private auction house. When a foreclosure case in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit reaches final judgment, the judgment directs the clerk to sell the property at public sale under section 45.031, Florida Statutes, and the clerk conducts the sale by electronic means under section 45.031(10). Nothing happens on the courthouse steps anymore.

The clerk is a neutral official who publishes notice, runs the sale, holds your deposit, and issues the certificates, but warrants nothing about the property and gives no legal advice. The record is public, so results are visible to your competitors too.

The whole process in nine steps:

1. Find upcoming sales on the public auction calendar at broward.realforeclose.com.
2. Research the docket, title, liens, and occupancy before you commit money.
3. Register a bidder account days early, because the lead time is in funding the deposit account, not in the registration itself.
4. Initiate the 5 percent deposit for each sale you intend to bid on, by wire or in person.
5. Set a proxy maximum bid with a ceiling you can pay in full the next day.
6. Bid through the scheduled closing time and any overtime extensions.
7. If you win, pay the balance plus the court registry fee by 12:00 p.m. ET the next business day, the clerk's advertised deadline, unless the final judgment sets a different one.
8. Wait out the 10-day objection window after the clerk files the certificate of sale.
9. Take title by certificate of title, then possession.

How do you find sales on the Broward foreclosure sale calendar?

The calendar at broward.realforeclose.com is public and searchable without logging in. Each listing shows the case number, address, parcel, final judgment amount, and its own closing date and time. Sales run on business days with staggered closings rather than one live event.

The calendar is built by statute. The sale must be held not less than 20 days and not more than 35 days after final judgment, unless the plaintiff consents to more time, under section 45.031(1), Florida Statutes. Notice of sale must be published for at least 2 consecutive weeks before the sale on the public notice website run under section 50.0311, Florida Statutes, or once a week for 2 weeks in a newspaper, the second publication at least 5 days before the sale, under section 45.031(2). The statute does not say who publishes it; in practice the plaintiff's counsel arranges publication. Read the notice itself: it carries the deposit and payment terms that bind you.

Expect churn. Cases settle, borrowers file bankruptcy, the court may enlarge the time of the sale under section 45.031(2), and the plaintiff's counsel can cancel through the site. Check the listing the morning of the sale, because a postponement posted the day before is still a postponement.

How do you register and post the 5 percent deposit?

Registration is free but not instant, and bidding requires a posted deposit. The statute requires the successful high bidder to post with the clerk a deposit equal to 5 percent of the final bid, applied to the price at payment, under section 45.031(3), Florida Statutes, and for electronic sales the clerk may require bidders to advance sufficient funds to cover that deposit before bidding under section 45.031(10). Broward requires a deposit of 5 percent of the estimated highest bid, posted separately for each sale you bid on; it is returned if you are outbid and forfeited only if you win and fail to pay the balance on time. Work in this order:

• Create your account at broward.realforeclose.com days ahead and complete the registration terms; those terms control payment methods and deadlines.
• Initiate a separate deposit for each auction you enter. All deposit funds, whether wired or delivered in person, must be received by the clerk no later than 3:00 p.m. ET on the business day before the sale, so a Monday sale means a Friday cutoff. Start the wire several days out.
• Size the deposit to 5 percent of your maximum intended bid, because the platform will not accept a bid your deposit cannot back.
• If you are outbid, the clerk refunds the deposit.
• If you win, the deposit is credited toward the purchase price.

One clerk rule worth noting: a plaintiff-access account cannot be used for third-party bidding, so both hats require a separate funded account.

How does bidding actually work?

Proxy bidding

RealForeclose is a proxy auction, not a live war you must babysit. You enter a maximum bid, and the system bids only as much as needed to keep you the high bidder in the stated increments. Other bidders see your standing bid, never your maximum. When two proxy maximums collide, the sale settles one increment above the loser's cap.

The plaintiff's maximum bid

The foreclosing plaintiff is entitled to bid on credit up to the amount it is owed under the final judgment, and section 45.031(10), Florida Statutes, requires the clerk to accept an advance credit proxy bid from the plaintiff of any amount up to that maximum. In practice the plaintiff files its max bid before the sale and the system auto-bids for it exactly as it does for you, so you are almost always bidding against a hidden number. Third-party buyers win when the bidding passes the plaintiff's max. Plaintiffs sometimes set a low max deliberately to let the market define value.

Closing times and the overtime period

Each property has its own scheduled closing time, and bids arriving near the close trigger extensions, which the site calls the overtime period. Never treat the scheduled time as the last word; the site's FAQ posts the current extension rules.

What happens after you win: from payment to certificate of title

Winning triggers a short statutory chain, and every link has a deadline. Broward's advertised deadline for the balance is 12:00 p.m. ET the next business day after the sale, unless the final judgment sets a different deadline, and the clerk takes wire transfer, cash, cashier's check or money order. What is due is not just the balance: Broward collects the court registry fee on the bid at the same time, 3 percent of the first 500 dollars and 1.5 percent of each subsequent 100 dollars under section 28.24(11), Florida Statutes, which runs roughly 4,500 dollars on a 300,000 dollar bid. Because wires take time, start the bank process before the confirmation email arrives. The sequence:

Step	When	What happens	Authority
Sale closes	End of auction and overtime	You are high bidder; results post publicly	s. 45.031, Fla. Stat.
Balance due	12:00 p.m. ET next business day, unless the judgment sets another deadline	Pay full bid less deposit, plus the court registry fee; wire, cash, cashier's check or money order	clerk's advertised terms; s. 45.031(3); s. 28.24(11)
Default	If you miss payment	Clerk readvertises; resale costs come from the deposit; remainder toward the judgment	s. 45.031(3), Fla. Stat.
Certificate of sale	After full payment	Clerk files the certificate of sale and serves it on the parties	s. 45.031(4), Fla. Stat.
Objection window	10 days after filing	Any party may object to the sale or to the amount of the bid	s. 45.031(5), (8), Fla. Stat.
Certificate of title	After the window clears	Clerk files the certificate of title; the sale stands confirmed and title passes on filing	s. 45.031(5)-(6), Fla. Stat.
Disbursements	On filing of certificate of title	Clerk pays out proceeds per the judgment and files a disbursement report	s. 45.031(7), Fla. Stat.

What if the property is occupied?

Occupancy is the biggest surprise for Broward buyers, because you cannot inspect the interior before bidding. Sort occupants into two buckets. A former owner or non-bona fide occupant who stays after the certificate of title is a tenant at sufferance; Broward final judgments routinely direct the clerk to issue a writ of possession once title issues, under the procedure in Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.580. A bona fide tenant gets more: the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, Pub. L. No. 111-22, made permanent in 2018, requires at least 90 days' notice to vacate, and a lease signed before the foreclosure notice may run its term, except that a buyer who will occupy the unit as a primary residence may terminate the lease effective on the date of sale, still subject to the 90-day notice. Florida enacted a mirror statute, section 83.5615, Florida Statutes, in chapter 2020-99, but it takes effect only upon repeal of the federal act, so it is not yet operative. Bona fide means an arm's-length lease, near-market rent, and a tenant outside the mortgagor's family. Screen occupancy before the auction and budget an eviction, because you cannot change the locks yourself.

What fees and doc stamps does the winning bidder pay?

The auction price is not your all-in cost. The certificate of title carries documentary stamp tax of 70 cents per 100 dollars under section 201.02, Florida Statutes, at Broward's statewide rate, and section 201.02(9) computes it solely on the highest and best bid received at the sale. The clerk's charges are statutory too: 70 dollars for making, recording, and certifying the sale and title, advanced by the plaintiff at each scheduling, under section 45.035(1), Florida Statutes, plus up to 70 dollars for the electronic sale under section 45.035(3), Florida Statutes.

Cost	Basis	Authority
Documentary stamps on certificate of title	$0.70 per $100 of the final bid	s. 201.02(9), Fla. Stat.
Court registry fee on the bid	3% of the first $500, then 1.5% of each subsequent $100, uncapped	s. 28.24(11), Fla. Stat.
Recording the certificate of title	$10 first page, $8.50 each additional page	Broward County Records, Taxes and Treasury
Sale and certificate charge	$70, advanced by plaintiff as costs	s. 45.035(1), Fla. Stat.
Electronic sale surcharge	up to $70, assessed as costs and paid by the plaintiff when filing for an electronic sale date	s. 45.035(3), Fla. Stat.
Unpaid taxes and surviving liens	varies by parcel	ch. 197, Fla. Stat.; see below
Title insurance, survey, eviction	market rate, your choice	not required by statute

The line investors forget is the fourth. Property taxes and outstanding tax certificates survive the sale, and association debt can follow the property to you, so your effective basis is the bid plus those amounts, not the number on the screen.

How do surplus claims work after the sale?

When the high bid exceeds the final judgment plus the costs of sale, the difference is surplus that belongs to the former owner or junior lienholders, not to the buyer and not to the lender. Section 45.032, Florida Statutes, supplies the machinery: the owner of record as of the lis pendens date is presumed entitled once timely-claiming subordinate lienholders are paid, a sole owner's claim is paid on court order with a sworn claim form, and competing claims go to an evidentiary hearing. Undisbursed surplus is reported as unclaimed one year after the sale and remitted to the state; after that, only the owner of record reported by the clerk, or the beneficiary or an heir of a deceased owner of record, may pursue it. The clerk withholds statutory service charges from surplus, including a per-disbursement charge, under section 45.035(2), Florida Statutes.

As a buyer you have no claim to surplus, so ignore anyone selling you a refund. As a deal source, surplus claims are assignable and frequently flipped, so verify the chain of assignment in the Official Records the way you would verify a deed. Owners are also targeted by recovery outfits charging large percentages for a filing they can make themselves.

What should you research before you bid?

Foreclosure sales are buyer beware, and the certificate of title conveys only the interest that was foreclosed, free of warranties. Your edge is the public record, all of it online:

• Read the final judgment and docket in the clerk's court records: confirm the plaintiff, the lien being foreclosed, and whether this is a resale after a default. The clerk's Circuit Civil page links the case records and sale procedures.
• Run a title search in the Broward County Official Records by legal description, not by address, and trace deeds, mortgages, lis pendens under section 48.23, Florida Statutes, and judgments.
• Check what survives the sale. Ad valorem taxes and tax certificates survive under chapter 197, Florida Statutes, and code enforcement and municipal liens can survive. Condominium and HOA assessments are the classic trap: condominium assessments are the joint and several liability of successive owners under section 718.116(1)(a), Florida Statutes. The mortgagee safe harbor, the lesser of 12 months of assessments or 1 percent of the original mortgage debt, sits in section 718.116(1)(b) for condos and section 720.3085(2)(c) for HOAs, and that cap belongs to the mortgagee: a non-mortgagee new owner stays jointly and severally liable for prior unpaid HOA assessments under section 720.3085(2)(b), Florida Statutes. Price in the association estoppel letter, not a best case.
• Pull ownership, assessed value, sales history, and exemption status from the Broward County Property Appraiser. A homestead exemption is a strong occupancy clue, which matters for the writ and tenant rules above.
• Drive by. You are buying the exterior and the lien record, sight unseen inside, at a price the market set in ninety seconds.

None of this is legal advice, and a Florida real estate attorney should read the file on any deal where the money matters.

What to do next

Pick one upcoming Broward sale and dry-run the checklist above against its docket and title record before the calendar date arrives. Do that once and the auction becomes a process instead of a gamble. When you want the legwork done for you, estate.partners Pro pulls these county records daily and ranks the deals, so you start with a shortlist instead of a raw calendar.