On the coast, a policy that lapses or gets non-renewed does not simply disappear. The servicer can buy coverage itself and add the cost to the loan. That coverage protects the lender's interest, not your belongings, and it generally costs more than a policy you would have bought. What you feel is an escrow shortfall: the servicer collects the difference over the following year, so the payment goes up at the exact moment you are trying to catch up on the payments you already missed.
This changes how the three usual paths compare. Reinstatement means paying the arrears and then carrying the new, higher payment. Before you plan around it, ask the servicer for a written reinstatement quote with a good-through date, and ask separately what the payment will be after the escrow is re-analyzed. For a lot of sellers it is the escrow figure, not the missed payments, that makes reinstatement unaffordable.
An equity sale pays the loan off in full, and the advanced premiums and fees are inside that payoff. Work from a written payoff statement rather than the balance shown in the servicer's app — the gap between the two is usually exactly what the servicer has advanced on your behalf.
If the payoff has climbed past what the property is worth, a short sale needs the lender's approval, and that review runs alongside the foreclosure timeline rather than pausing it. Bringing a real, documented offer shortens the conversation. Florida foreclosures are handled through the courts and every case turns on its own dates, so talk to a Florida attorney about yours. We do not give legal advice.