Are evictions like that?

I think this was showing how people responded during the mortgage crisis.

There is an absolute process, you don’t not just get kicked out of your house on a random day. There are notices put on your doors and windows, calls from the bank/lenders, court dates, etc. you have a minimum of 30-90 days in most cases.

I would assume most people are packed and somewhat ready to leave by eviction date, even if they do wait it out until the day of eviction when the sheriffs officers come. Some people even trash their homes, like the home that backed up the sewage tank, making it less likely to be worth anything to the bank. Also, home owners in foreclosure will take things like appliances, AC units, anything at all that will take value away from the house that can come with a person.

Sadly, I saw a lot of this in South Florida in late 2007 early 2008. Every other home was foreclosed on it seemed like, so I think that’s why they focused on Florida in this movie. I lived their briefly, and then moved back to NJ, where it was happening but not as bad or noticeable.

in addition to the comment above re people trashing their homes before leaving, it also showed others accepting the cash-for-keys offer.
The ones who were caught off guard were done so because they were under the impression that legal proceedings to prevent the eviction were still going on and that the eviction couldn't happen until they'd been resolved. We see this with the main character and several other cases. I don't know how often that would have happened in real life - the movie makes it look like at least half of the evictions happen that way, but it could only be a small percentage
And of course, we're only shown that ones where they have to turn up with a police escort to do the eviction. I guess it would be pretty boring to show the ones in which the tenants have already quietly vacated.

it's a long process. no one should have been surprised.