Tenant not paying rent on your Palm Coast, FL rental? How the 3-day notice under Florida Statute 83.56(3) is counted, how the case is filed with Flagler County Civil in Bunnell, and how to sell with arrears unresolved. Written offer within 24 hours of the visit.
The first of the month came and went on the Lehigh Woods rental, then the fifth, then a text about a paycheck that was coming. Meanwhile nothing else paused. The mortgage drew on schedule. The premium, near the $2,260 a year a typical Palm Coast policy is estimated to cost, stayed due. The tax bill on a rental with no homestead exemption kept its 10% non-homestead cap working against you. Florida's answer is a 3-day notice followed by a county court filing, and done correctly it moves. Done with one wrong date, or against a tenant who contests, it drags, and every week of drag is another week of paying for a house someone else lives in for free.
Palm Coast Cash Buyers buys houses with non-paying tenants across Palm Coast and Flagler County, with the tenancy and any pending case exactly as they are. You sell, we become the landlord, and the notice, the filing, the cleanout and the repairs are ours. This page explains how to count the 3-day notice, how and where the case is filed in Flagler County, what transfers when you sell with rent owed, the carrying costs that keep running, and how to weigh finishing the eviction against selling now.
The 3-day notice under Statute 83.56(3), counted the way the court counts it
Florida Statute 83.56(3) requires a written 3-day notice to pay the rent or vacate before a nonpayment eviction can be filed. The three days are business days and exclude the day of service, Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, so a notice served on a Friday does not expire on Monday. It must state the amount of rent due and be delivered as the statute requires. A notice with the wrong amount or the wrong date gives the tenant grounds to have the case dismissed, and the clock restarts from a new notice. Late fees are collectible only as the lease states them, so a tenant's lawyer will ask what the lease says before conceding the amount. If you sell before serving anything, we serve the notice as the new owner with our own dates and our own count.
Filing in Flagler County Civil: the second floor of the Justice Center in Bunnell
If the tenant neither pays nor leaves within the three days, the next step is an eviction filed with Flagler County Civil, second floor of the Kim C. Hammond Justice Center at 1769 E. Moody Blvd in Bunnell (386-313-4483, Monday through Friday 8:30 to 4:30), or online through the Florida e-Portal. The clerk's 2023 packet listed a filing fee of about $185 plus $10 per summons for each defendant and $40 for sheriff service; confirm the current amounts. Possession cases use a summary procedure meant to move faster than an ordinary lawsuit, and a tenant who contests must deposit the disputed rent into the court registry to be heard. If the court rules for the landlord, it enters a judgment for possession and issues a writ that the sheriff carries out. Unpaid rent is a separate money claim. A defense, or a defective notice, adds time at every step.
Selling with the arrears unresolved: what transfers and what stays yours
You can sell at any point in this process. The lease, written or month-to-month, continues with the new owner. The deposit transfers under Statute 83.49(7), with a written receipt and a per-tenant accounting, and the tenant is told who holds it. A case already filed in Flagler County Civil can in most situations be continued by the new owner stepping into the landlord's place; your attorney confirms that step for your file. Any notice you served stays effective for the period it covers. The rent the tenant owes through closing remains your claim to pursue or forgive; we do not buy the debt and we do not ask you to credit it. The offer prices the house as occupied, with the arrears and the case as they stand. From the closing date the tenant deals with Palm Coast Cash Buyers, not you.
The carrying costs that keep running, and what happens if the mortgage slips
While the rent is zero, the rental's costs are not. A rental gets no homestead exemption, so its assessed value can rise up to 10% a year, and the city's millage is 4.1387. Property taxes are due by March 31 and delinquent April 1; the Flagler County Tax Collector sells a tax certificate on the parcel on June 1, and after two years the certificate holder can apply for a tax deed through LienHub. If the mortgage falls behind, a Florida foreclosure is judicial: the lender files a lawsuit with the Flagler Clerk and records a lis pendens, a public notice that the house is in litigation, in the official records. A sale that pays the lender in full before the clerk's online sale leads the lender's attorney to cancel the sale and dismiss the case. Tell us everything that is behind. It changes the settlement statement, not whether we buy.
Finishing the eviction and listing versus selling now, in Palm Coast numbers
The finish-and-list path has four stages with a cost at each. More months without rent during the case. The repairs a non-paying tenant leaves behind, on an ITT-era house or a 2000s build. Then a listing: Flagler County homes took 61 days to go under contract and 97 days to close in August 2026 against 4.4 months of supply, and 469 Palm Coast listings cut their price in the 30 days to October 20, 2026. Then a commission of roughly $22,000 on a sale near the $360,000 median and a financed buyer's appraisal and insurance. The sell-now path stops the loss at closing, in about a week once title is clear, with no repairs, no listing and no commission. Our offer is below what an empty, renovated house would list for. Compare it with the finish-and-list net after the next three months of unpaid rent, not with the list price.
How the sale runs
Send the address, the lease terms, the amount owed and the status of any notice or filing. We arrange whatever visit is possible under Statute 83.53, which needs the tenant's consent for a showing, or we work from the exterior and your description. We deliver a written offer within 24 hours of the visit. When you accept, the title company opens the file, documents the deposit transfer, pays off the mortgage and any liens from the price and closes in about a week once title is clear. We pay the customary closing costs and there is no commission. If you own the rental from St. Augustine or out of state, you sign with a mobile notary. If the tenant is one month behind and otherwise reliable, a payment plan may serve you better, and we will say so. If the rent has stopped for good, the offer ends the loss.
Selling to us or listing: how it compares in Palm Coast
| Sell to Palm Coast Cash Buyers | List with an agent | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to close | About a week after a clear title, or your date | roughly two to three months to a contract, then the buyer's financing |
| Repairs and inspections | None; bought as it stands | Inspection and repair credits, often a four-point and wind-mitigation inspection for insurance |
| Commission and closing costs | No commission; we pay the customary closing costs | Commission plus the seller's share of closing costs |
| Price | Usually below a renovated home's list price | Market price, if the house qualifies and the buyer's loan closes |
| Certainty | Written contract; no lender between signing and closing | Depends on the buyer's appraisal, loan and inspection period |