Mortgage Foreclosure Procedures

For legal advice, please consult an Attorney. Please do not ask the Clerks for legal advice as they are not qualified to answer any legal questions.

The foreclosure court files are kept in the Circuit Civil Department of the St. Lucie County Clerk's office, 201 S. Indian River Drive, Second Floor, Fort Pierce, FL 34950. The office is open to the public from 8AM to 5PM, Monday through Friday. Court files in which a foreclosure sale is set are available for public inspection in the Circuit Civil Department until 10AM the day of the sale. We ask that you visit our Research Department, located on the 4 th floor, to view the electronic case file. Images of all documents in the case file are available.

Effective, August 1st, 2010, the Civil Division will no longer complete or issue NOTICES OF SALE. The Plaintiff’s attorney (or the plaintiff if pro se) will be required to:
      Secure publication dates from the newspaper
      Prepare and complete the Notice of Sale, to include the 2 publication dates
      Mail to all parties, including a copy to the Clerk’s office
      Provide a proof of publication to the clerk’s office prior to the sale date
The clerk’s office will continue to mail conformed copies for the final judgment to all parties, as long as sufficient envelopes are provided. The clerk will also schedule the sale on the clerk’s calendar

YOU MUST DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH FOR THE PROPERTY INVOLVED.

The Foreclosure Clerks use only the legal description, however, with this description, you can find street address information at the Property Appraiser's office, 2300 Virginia Avenue, Fort Pierce, FL. The status of the county property taxes may be checked at the Tax Collector's office, 2300 Virginia Avenue, Fort Pierce, FL.

The Clerk's Office assumes no responsibility for any encumbrances (judgments, mortgages, taxes, and other liens) on any property offered on sale. It is in your best interest to have a Title Search done by an attorney or Title Company. However, you may search the Clerk's Official Records at the Clerk's Office, 201 South Indian River Drive, Fort Pierce, FL 34950 .

It is possible you will have to take legal action to obtain possession of the property. Until this is granted by the court, you may not have access to the property without permission of the owner. The Clerk's office assumes no responsibility for the availability of any personal property offered for sale.

Foreclosure sales may be held any weekday at 11:00 AM in the Jury assembly room of the St. Lucie County Courthouse located at 218 S. Second Street, First Floor, Fort Pierce, FL. Bidding is done in increments of $100.00 or more. The purchaser of the property will be issued a deed called a Certificate of Title. This deed contains no warranties.

 

Terms of the Clerk's Sale
Joseph E. Smith, Clerk of Circuit Court
St. Lucie County, Florida

THE TERMS OF THE CLERK'S SALE, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED BY FINAL JUDGMENT, ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Location of Sale : Foreclosure Sales are conducted in the Jury Assembly Room of the Main Courthouse, 218 South Second Street, First Floor, Fort Pierce , FL 34950 .

Dates of Sale : Foreclosure sales may be held any weekday at 11:00 AM.

Conditions of Sale : The purchaser takes title to the property subject to all defects, liens, encumbrances and matters of which he/she has or could obtain knowledge. It is the responsibility of the interested party to research the property involved, including whether any of the defendants have filed for bankruptcy protection. The Clerk's office does not know where the property is located. The Clerk's file reflects only the legal description of the property. Information regarding the property may be obtained through the Official Records Department of the Clerk's office; St. Lucie County Property Appraiser's office; and St. Lucie County Tax Collector's office.

TERMS:

Proof of publication must be filed prior to 10:30AM the day of the sale in the Circuit Civil Department located at 201 S. Indian River Drive, Second Floor, Fort Pierce, FL 34950. Proofs will not be accepted at sale. Sale will not be held unless proof of publication has been filed.

REGISTRATION : All bidders must register with the Clerk's office, in the Circuit Civil Department, prior to 10:30 AM on the day of the sale. You may pre-register for the next calendar year during the month of December. Pre-registration for this year will be valid from December of the current year through December 31st of next year. Said form may be secured from the Circuit Civil Department at 201 South Indian River Drive, Second Floor, Fort Pierce, FL (Or may be printed from this website - click here ). You may pre-register with the Clerk's office the day before the foreclosure sale in the Circuit Civil Department, Monday through Friday, 8AM to 5PM, excluding court-observed holidays. A bidder may not register for a day's sale after 10:30 AM the day of the sale. Bidder must register for him/herself and any and all corporations, non-profits, partnerships, businesses, etc. that he/she may represent as a bidder. Proof of the bidder's affiliation with any entities he/she intends to represent may be required. If a bidder fails to register, his/her bid will not be recognized and he/she will be disqualified from all further bidding that day. There is no fee for registration. To view current Bidder Registration Forms on file with the Clerk click here.

PLAINTIFF: All Plaintiff's sale packets, including the $70 sale fee, must be turned in prior to 10:30 AM on the day of the sale in the Circuit Civil Department located at 201 South Indian River Drive, Second Floor, Fort Pierce, FL 34950.

BIDDING: Bidding is done in increments of $100.00 or more. By court order, the judgment holder usually receives credit up to the amount of the judgment. Each bidder acting in a representative capacity shall state whom he/she represents at the time of bidding.

During the bidding, all registered bidders and observers are expected to treat each other and the Clerks with respect. Any disruptive behavior (talking aloud while a sale is being conducted, using a cellular phone while a sale is being conducted, arguing with another bidder or the Clerks, etc.) may result in your disqualification to bid on or observe the remainder of the sales that day. An initial warning will be issued by the Clerks to any bidder or observer engaging in disruptive behavior. If the disruptive behavior continues, the bidder or observer will be disqualified in accordance with the Disqualification paragraph, and may be removed from the bidding room. The Clerk conducting the sale shall be the sole determiner of disruptive behavior.

DISQUALIFICATION: All bidding must be done in good faith. If a bidder submits a bid in bad faith, he/she will be disqualified from all further bidding that day. This includes disqualification from making bids on behalf of the bidder and the disqualification of all corporations, non-profits, partnerships, businesses, etc., he/she is representing at the sale that day. Examples of bad faith bidding includes, but are not limited to: (a) rescinding a bid prior to the property being sold; (b) rescinding a bid after the property is sold; (c) failing to register as a bidder and bidding on a property; (d) failing to post the required deposit; or (e) continual disruptive behavior (see paragraph BIDDING). If a bidder is disqualified from bidding due to bad faith bidding on three occasions in any thirty (30) day period or on six occasions in one year, he/she will be disqualified from bidding for one year from the date of the last disqualification.

DEPOSIT AT TIME OF SALE : Unless otherwise ordered by Court, the successful bidder must post with the Clerk a deposit equal to five percent (5%) of the final bid (see Section 45.031F.S.). The deposit shall be applied to the sale price at the time of final payment.

If the successful bidder does not post the deposit as set forth above at the time of sale, the bidder will be disqualified for that day (see DISQUALIFICATION paragraph), the bid will be considered invalid and the bidding will continue from the last highest bid.

If a judgment holder is the successful bidder, credit for the judgment amount shall be applied to the bid. The judgment holder thus does not need to pay funds for the deposit unless he/she bids above the amount of his/her judgment. If he/she bids above the amount of his/her judgment, he/she must pay a deposit on the portion of the bid which exceeds the judgment amount.

FULL PAYMENT OF BIDS AND RELATED COSTS : The successful bidder's deposit will be retained by the Clerk and the difference between the deposit and the total amount due must be paid by 3:00 P.M. on the day of the sale unless otherwise ordered by Court. If final payment is not received in a timely manner, the successful bidder must pay the following costs; The Clerk's fee of $70.00 for conducting the sale, documentary stamps ($.70 per $100.00, or fraction thereof, of the amount bid); and registry fees (pursuant to Section 28.24,F.S.) of three percent (3%) of the first $500.00 and one and a half percent (1.5%) of the balance of the amount of bid or as otherwise set forth in the judgment.

IF THE SALE IS SET ASIDE, THE CLERK WILL RETAIN THE SALES FEE AND REGISTRY FEES AS ENTITLED BY LAW.

FORMS OF PAYMENT: The Clerk accepts payments in the form of cash, official bank checks, and cashier's checks for payment of bids and deposits. An Official Bank Check is defined, for the purpose of this paragraph, as a check drawn upon a financial institution, which certifies that the check is backed with guaranteed funds and will not be returned due to insufficient funds. The Clerk's office reserves the right to refuse tender of a check if the check does not appear to be legally sufficient in the Clerk's sole discretion. All checks must be drawn upon a U.S. banking institution, made payable to Joseph E. Smith, Clerk. If you are an attorney and you (or your client) are the successful bidder, you may pay by a trust account check (clearly delineated as such on the check), or law firm account check, drawn upon a U.S. banking institution. NO OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR BIDS OR DEPOSITS. Under no circumstances will the Clerk accept personal checks or third party checks.

EFFECT OF BANKRUPTCY : If a Suggestion of Bankruptcy or a copy of a bankruptcy petition is filed by a defendant in the foreclosure case prior to the sale, the Clerk will not sell the property unless one of the following is filed in the foreclosure action along with an Order to Reset the Foreclosure Sale:

A. Order lifting Stay

B. Notice of Abandonment of Property

C. Voluntary Dismissal or order dismissing bankruptcy case

D. Order Discharging Debtor

E. Other Types of orders or pleadings as my be appropriate

If a petition or Suggestion of Bankruptcy is filed the morning of a scheduled foreclosure sale, the defendant shall deliver copy to the Clerk conducting the sale in the Jury Assembly room of the Main Courthouse, First Floor.