In Broward County the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit and the Broward County Clerk of the Courts handle foreclosure cases, and the tax deed and code processes each run through a different office. A house can be sold as-is before any of them reaches the end.
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Foreclosure, a tax deed sale and a code enforcement lien are three separate processes in Broward County, run by three different offices. Until a foreclosure sale or a tax deed sale actually happens, the owner can usually still sell the house. The sale proceeds can pay off the mortgage, back taxes and recorded liens at closing, and the owner keeps whatever is left. Where each of these stands for your own parcel is a question for a Florida attorney.
A foreclosure starts as a lawsuit in the circuit court of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, filed with the Broward County Clerk of the Courts in Fort Lauderdale. If the lender wins a final judgment, the property is sold at a court-ordered sale. Court-ordered foreclosure sales are a separate process handled through the Clerk of the Courts, and they are also held online. The statewide version of this is in selling a house before a Florida foreclosure auction.
A tax deed sale is not a foreclosure. It follows unpaid property taxes: the Broward County Records, Taxes and Treasury Division handles the tax bill, a tax certificate is sold on the unpaid amount, and if the certificate stays unredeemed the property can be put up for a tax deed sale. Broward is different from its neighbors: tax deed auctions are run by the county's Records, Taxes and Treasury Division rather than the Clerk, and they are held monthly and entirely online.
The owner generally has until the sale to pay what is owed and stop it, and money left over after a tax deed sale can belong to the former owner. How that works is set out in how a Florida tax deed auction works.
Broward splits the work across two offices. The Clerk of the Courts handles the court side, meaning foreclosure and probate cases. The county's Records, Taxes and Treasury Division keeps the official records of deeds, mortgages and liens, collects the property tax, and runs the tax deed auctions. So a Broward owner checking on a lien or a tax certificate is dealing with the county division, and only the lawsuit itself sits with the Clerk. The Seventeenth Judicial Circuit covers only Broward County, and every city, including Fort Lauderdale and Oakland Park, keeps its own code enforcement cases.
Code cases are kept by each city. The two Broward cities whose public case records we read are Fort Lauderdale and Oakland Park. A code case can end in daily fines and a recorded lien against the property, and a lien stays on the title until it is paid or released. It does not stop a sale: the lien is typically paid from the proceeds at closing. See code violation liens in Florida.
We are a Tampa-based company that buys houses directly across Florida, including Broward County: Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Pembroke Pines, Oakland Park, Davie, and Plantation. We read the public records for this county: Fort Lauderdale and Oakland Park code cases, the county's delinquent tax list, and state tax-roll and sales-data records. Those are the same public records you can look up. We buy as-is, with no repairs, no clean-out and no agent. See also selling an inherited house in Broward County and selling a house in any condition.
Written 2026-10-26. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice, and we are not a law firm. For your own deadlines and rights, talk to a Florida attorney.
More Broward County guides: Sell an Inherited House in Broward County, FL.
Neighboring counties: Sell a House in Collier County, FL: Your Options; Sell a Distressed House in Miami-Dade County, FL; Sell a Distressed House in Palm Beach County, FL.
If the Broward County house also comes with another problem: Can You Sell a House in Probate in Florida?; How a Florida Tax Deed Auction Works; Code Violation Lien in Florida: Can You Sell?; Selling a House Before a Florida Foreclosure; Sell a House With Back Taxes in Florida; Selling a House As-Is in Florida: Disclosure Rules; Sell a Hurricane-Damaged House in Florida; Sell a House With Liens on It in Florida; Inherited a House With a Reverse Mortgage in Florida; Sell a House Full of Belongings in Florida; Sell a Vacant House in Florida: What to Know; Sell a Florida House From Out of State; Sell a House With Problem Tenants in Florida; Sell a House With Sinkhole Damage in Florida; Sell a Florida Condo With a Special Assessment; Sell a House in Bankruptcy in Florida; Sell a Florida House With Title Problems; Sell a Florida House You Cannot Insure; Owe More Than the House Is Worth? Selling in Florida; Sell a House When the Owner Is in a Care Facility, Florida; What Is a Lis Pendens in Florida and Can You Sell?; Is a We Buy Houses Company Legit in Florida?; Sell a Fire-Damaged House in Florida; Sell a Condemned or Unsafe House in Florida; Sell a House With Unpermitted Work in Florida; Sell a House With HOA Liens in Florida; Sell a House During a Divorce in Florida; Heirs Disagree on Selling an Inherited Florida House.
Counts from our own records of public county filings: Florida Probate Filings We Track, by County; Florida Tax-Delinquent Properties by County; Florida Foreclosure Auctions: Next 60 Days.
See every Florida county we have a guide for: Florida county home-selling guides.