Traps set for people who need to sell

Upfront-fee rescue

"Pay us $1,500 and we'll stop the foreclosure."

Illegal in Florida (§501.1377) and federally (MARS rule). Legit help is free: HUD counselor 800-569-4287, JALA 904-356-8371.

What to do: Nobody gets paid before your house is saved.

Sale-leaseback

"Sell it to us and stay in it. Rent for a while, buy it back when you're on your feet."

What actually happens: you sign a deed today at a low price and your equity leaves with it. You're now a tenant in your own house; one late rent and you're evicted like any tenant. The buy-back price is set so you never reach it. Florida gives you until 5 p.m. on the third business day to cancel, requires them to verify you can afford the rent, and presumes a buy-back markup over 17% per year unfair (§501.1377), but you'd have to sue to use any of it.

What to do: If you can't afford the house, you can't afford to rent it back at a markup. Sell outright, keep the equity, and stay under a written post-closing agreement while you figure out the next step.

Deed theft

"Sign over the deed and we'll handle the bank."

A felony (§817.535) that still happens weekly, and the mortgage stays in your name. Free defense in every Florida county: your clerk's property-fraud alert (required by §28.47) notifies you when anything is recorded against your name.

What to do: Sign up today (county links in the Free help guide). Five minutes.

Surplus "recovery."

"We found money owed to you. Sign here and we'll recover it for 40%."

After a foreclosure or tax-deed sale, money left over is yours to claim from the clerk with a form, free. Florida caps assignees at 12% (§45.033) and makes them tell you in writing you don't need them. Unclaimed after a year it goes to the State: claimyourcashfl.gov, free, still yours.

What to do: Call the clerk before you sign anything.

Loan-mod mill

"Stop paying the bank and pay us. We'll get your loan modified."

Fee up front, no contact with the lender, foreclosure keeps moving. No fee is legal until you've signed the modification the lender actually offered.

What to do: Your servicer or a HUD counselor does this free.

Bankruptcy mill

"We'll file a Chapter 13 for you. That stops the sale."

A petition preparer, not a lawyer. Serial filings backfire: a second case within a year pauses the sale only 30 days; a third doesn't pause it at all.

What to do: Real tool, real bankruptcy attorney.

Fake official mail

"FINAL NOTICE. TAX CERTIFICATE HOLDER. Respond within 72 hours."

Real notices come from the Clerk, the Tax Collector or the court, with a case or parcel number.

What to do: Verify with the clerk's office directly before calling any number on a letter.

Fake program

"You qualify for the government mortgage-relief program."

Florida's Homeowner Assistance Fund is closed.

What to do: Anyone "enrolling" you, for a fee or your bank login, is lying.

Subject-to

"We'll take over your payments and pay it off eventually. You'll be free and clear."

They get the house; the loan stays in your name. Jacksonville, 2026: a veteran got $4,000 at closing, the buyer made zero payments, he's $35,000 behind on a house he no longer owns, and 29 foreclosure suits trace to one operator (News4Jax, January and February 2026).

What to do: No, unless your own attorney structures it with recorded protections, and usually not then.

Heir hunters

"We found an inheritance you don't know about. Sign for 30%."

It's in the clerk's public probate file. State-held funds: claimyourcashfl.gov, free; finder fees there are capped at 30%.

What to do: Search first, sign nothing.

The fractional-share buyer

"I'll buy your brother's quarter."

An investor buys one heir's share cheap, then sues to force a sale of the whole house. Florida's heirs-property law (§64.201 to .214) lets the family buy that share at appraised value within 45 days and forces an open-market listing instead of a courthouse auction, but only if you answer the lawsuit.

What to do: Don't ignore the summons.

Your empty house, on someone else's Facebook

"Great house for rent. $1,200, deposit today."

Vacant inherited and pre-foreclosure homes get "rented" by strangers, or occupied outright.

What to do: Change the locks, post it, check weekly. Florida's 2024 law lets the owner have the sheriff remove unauthorized occupants (§82.036).

Spoofed email, the number one closing fraud

"Updated wire instructions for your closing."

What to do: Confirm wire details by phone to a number you looked up yourself, never one in the email.

The runner

"Give me the reinstatement money and I'll take it to the bank for you."

Reinstatements, payoffs and tax redemptions go to the servicer, the Tax Collector or the closing agent.

What to do: Nobody else touches that money. Not a friend, not a Zelle.

Notarios and document preparers

"I'm not a lawyer, but I prepare these documents all the time."

Legal advice without a license.

What to do: Verify a lawyer at floridabar.org/directories/find-mbr; can't afford one: JALA or Florida Bar referral 800-342-8011.

Fake counselor

"We're a HUD-approved nonprofit. There's a $300 enrollment fee."

HUD-approved foreclosure counseling is free.

What to do: Verify at 800-569-4287. Jacksonville: Wealth Watchers 904-265-4736; NACA 904-306-9272.

The lien contractor

"Sign here and your insurance pays us directly. No cost to you."

Florida banned assignment-of-benefits on residential policies issued since 2023; unpaid contractors record liens that block your sale.

What to do: Licensed (myfloridalicense.com), in writing, never sign over insurance rights.

Cash-for-keys with no paper

"Move out by Friday and I'll have $2,000 for you."

You leave; the cash doesn't come.

What to do: One signed page: amount, date, condition, paid at the walk-through.

Novation

"We'll bring in a funding partner through a novation. Just a paperwork change on the buyer side."

They list your house on the open market, in your name, at a higher price, and keep everything above your number while you keep carrying the house.

What to do: If the plan involves listing your house, list it yourself, with an agent.

Code-lien fear

"If you don't sell to me, the city's going to take your house."

In Florida a code-enforcement lien cannot foreclose on your homestead (§162.09(3)). The fines are real; the threat isn't.

What to do: Call the code office yourself (Jacksonville MCCD 904-255-7000) and ask about the Lien Reduction Program.