Orange County Comptroller
occompt.com › 191 › Tax-Deed-Sales
Tax Deed Sales | Orange County Comptroller, FL
Once delinquent, the Tax Collector holds an auction in order to pay off the taxes. This auction is referred to as a Tax Certificate Sale (FS 197.432). The successful bidder at this auction is issued a Tax Lien Certificate which ensures the bidder that the Tax Lien will be paid off, with interest.
Brevard County
brevardclerk.us › tax-deeds
Tax Deeds / Auctions - Brevard County, Florida - Clerk of the Court
According to Florida Statutes, on or before June 1, a tax certificate sale must be held. This is a public auction held by the tax collector where a tax certificate is sold to the party who will pay the property owner’s tax and accept the lowest interest rate when redemption of the delinquent taxes is made. A certificate is an interest-bearing lien ...
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Florida Department of Revenue
floridarevenue.com › taxes › compliance › Pages › delinquent_taxpayer.aspx
Florida Dept. of Revenue - Florida Delinquent Taxpayers
Florida Department of Revenue - The Florida Department of Revenue has three primary lines of business: (1) Administer tax law for 36 taxes and fees, processing nearly $37.5 billion and more than 10 million tax filings annually; (2) Enforce child support law on behalf of about 1,025,000 children with $1.26 billion collected in FY 06/07; (3) Oversee property tax administration involving 10.9 million parcels of property worth $2.4 trillion.
Miami-Dade County Clerk of the Court and Comptroller
miamidadeclerk.gov › clerk › property-tax-deeds.page
Property Tax Deeds
Review the Clerk’s Administrative Order 13-05 Electronic Tax Deed Sales Procedures for detailed information on bidding for the properties offered for sale. There are certain risks associated with the bidding at tax deed sales. The Clerk makes no express or implied warranties or representation about the condition, marketability, existing or potential uses, title, outstanding liens, mortgages or other encumbrances which may survive the sale of the property, zoning regulations or laws that may affect current or future uses of the property, or existence of any conditions regarding any property and structures or fixtures thereon offered for sale by the Clerk.
Hernandoclerk
hernandoclerk.com › additional-services › tax-deeds
Tax Deeds – Hernando County Clerk of Circuit Court & Comptroller
If these taxes are still outstanding, ... should you have questions, please contact their office at (352)754-4180. A tax certificate represents a tax lien on a property; it does not convey title to the land....
Charlottecountyfl
taxcollector.charlottecountyfl.gov › delinquent-tax
Charlotte County Tax Collector - Delinquent Taxes
Florida Statutes require the Tax Collector to advertise the delinquent parcels in a local newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks following the payment deadline. Advertising and collection fees are added to the delinquent taxpayer's bill. Beginning on or before June 1st, the Tax Collector is required by law to hold a Tax Certificate Sale. The certificates represent liens on all unpaid real estate properties...
Polk County Clerk
polkcountyclerk.net › 189 › Tax-Deeds
Tax Deeds | Polk County Clerk, FL
All tax deed sales will be subject to any unpaid governmental judgments or liens. All tax deed sales are made without any warranties or representations as to the status of the title and the condition of any improvements on the property. In accordance with section 192.0105(3), Florida Statutes, ...
Bay County Tax Collector
baycountyfltax.gov › property-taxes › delinquent-property-taxes
Delinquent Property Taxes – Bay County Tax Collector
If delinquent property remains unpaid, the parcel will be included in the tax certificate sale on June 1st. Florida law requires that all real estate taxes be paid by March 31 each year. If those taxes are not paid, the law requires Tax Collectors to conduct an auction and sell “tax ...
Ted Thomas
tedthomas.com › home › articles › how to buy tax lien properties in florida
How to Buy Tax Lien Properties in Florida: Expert Guide
What you’ll find out is that all the properties with unpaid property tax end up on a list of tax lien certificates. The county controls the taxes. So what the county simply does, especially in Florida, is they take action right away and say, “If you haven’t paid your tax, what we’re going to do is sell a tax lien certificate on your property.”
Published January 27, 2025
Pasco County Clerk
pascoclerk.com › 201 › Tax-Deed-Sales
Tax Deed Sales | Pasco County Clerk, FL
Find information regarding tax deeds including researching properties, liens, bid registration, conduct at sale, deposit, payment after the sale, and purchasing property off the lists of lands.
Palm Beach Clerk
mypalmbeachclerk.com › departments › courts › tax-deeds
Tax Deeds | Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County
We recommend using the the latest versions of the Internet Explorer and Firefox web browsers when using the online auction site. Tax deed sales are the auction of property on which tax certificates have been sold by the Tax Collector’s office for delinquent real estate taxes. Tax deed sales are held pursuant to Florida Statutes Chapter 197. The Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller’s office conducts the tax deed sale. Properties ...
Escambia County Clerk
escambiaclerk.com › 255 › Tax-Deeds-Lands-Available
Tax Deeds / Lands Available | Escambia County Clerk, FL
This fee must be paid to the Tax ... for the certificate sale. A tax certificate is sold for all taxes not paid by June 1st. A tax certificate is a tax lien against the property....
Easytitlesearch
easytitlesearch.com › home › how do i find tax liens on a property in florida?
How Do I Find Tax Liens on a Property in Florida? | Easy Title Search Blog
November 13, 2025 - Potential investors can buy property tax liens, like real property at auctions. The process of acquiring such properties is known as a tax lien sale. Although not every state in the United States allows tax lien sales, Florida does allow it.
St. Lucie Tax Collector
tcslc.com › 205 › Delinquent-Property-Taxes
Delinquent Property Taxes | St. Lucie Tax Collector, FL
The delinquent taxes include ad valorem taxes (both county and city) and non-ad valorem special assessments. A tax certificate sale is not a sale of land, but rather a lien against the subject property. Delinquent taxes are advertised in a local newspaper prior to the tax certificate sale.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/realestateinvesting › understanding tax lien certificates in florida
r/realestateinvesting on Reddit: Understanding Tax Lien Certificates in Florida
October 19, 2021 -
I just moved to Florida and I'm trying to figure out it's tax lien certificates.
Basically, they start at 18% annual return for the certificate buyer, then bidding reduces the rate of return. For example someone will say they'll buy the certificate for a 17% rate of return, then another bidder says they'll take a 16% rate of return, if no other bidder, the person bidding 16% wins the certificate.
Even if Florida ends up foreclosing on the property due to the lack of tax payments, owning a tax lien certificate for the property doesn't provide any advantages as the auction is held for the public.
Given any clear lack of advantages, I would expect the bidded rate of return to be at least 10% (my assumption on a reasonable rate). However, this county website, about half way down:
https://taxcollect.com/tax-certificate-deed-sales/
Shows the majority of the tax lien certificates sell at .25% (a quarter of a percent), which is an awful rate of return.
What am I missing that would encourage people to bid such a low rate of return?
Top answer 1 of 5
5
You're not missing much, in states like Florida where owning the tax lien cert doesn't give you a leg up on owning the property it's a crappy investment and opportunity given the low interest rate that usually attaches to them. I suppose the people who invest in them in Florida are either newbs who don't understand that they don't get dibs on the underlying property, or super conservative investors who just want their money to be tied up somewhere safe earning something a hair above what money market accounts pay. Tax lien cert investing IMO is only a good strategy in states where owning the cert gives you the opportunity to take back the property directly if the owner defaults on the payment.
2 of 5
4
Alright partners, hold your horses. You could win money here, but you could also lose money easily. Investor beware!!!! I see a lot of people talking about FL and the truth of the matter is the answers to all of your questions are in FL Statutes 197, but nobody wants to spend time reading them. First things first: Tax Lien and Tax Deed Investing are two separate businesses, where buying a lien certificate will grant you an interest rate on your money, and buying the deed of the property will give you ownership (a.k.a title in the abstract world). In Florida, when you buy a lien certificate, you bid it down from 18 percent which is the maximum interest you could legally charge here, to sometimes 0%. You bid the lowest return rate you are willing to earn by investing in that particular certificate. If you bid down to 0.25%, Florida law gives you 5% profit as a penalty to the owner, which means that if the property owner pays in 2 months, you get what you paid + the 5 percent fine. However, it could easily backfire because if the owner takes 24 months to pay, you will still get back a 5% penalty on your money which equals to about 2.5% APR, and that would totally suck. In other words, bidding anything lower than 5 percent is gambling on the owner to pay quickly. Not good. You could have your money sitting for 2 years for a mere 2.5% return per year. If you for some unknown reason decide to bid 0%, FL Statutes indicate that you are lending your money for free. You don't qualify for the 5% penalty, so definitely don't do this. If 2 years go by and the owner still hasn't paid the property taxes, you could continue to wait while accruing interest up to 7 years total, or you could submit a Tax Deed Application to take the lien certificate to a tax deed sale, and that would be the way to recover your investment after the property is sold. Normally the county charges about $180 give or take for the paperwork to move through for the sale to happen and that process takes about 4 months to complete. The county will pay you the same interest rate of your tax certificate on that extra money you now have to invest in order to collect the other investment you made when you bought the certificate. About 4 months later the property is sold at an auction and that's when you get your money back + penalty OR interest rate depending on the amount you purchased the tax lien certificate for. If nobody bids on the property, which is very unlikely if the property has value, then the county will assign the deed to you and you'll become the owner of the property. It could happen, but it's very unlikely in Florida. If you bought a certificate for a piece of land that has no value, let's say a piece of swamp, most likely nobody will bid on it, and you will be the owner of that piece of swamp land that you can't sell or use, and guess what, it's a property that you will start paying property taxes too, or else the county will issue tax certificates and sell it at an auction 2 years down the road. See how the cycle repeats? Reality is that you have NO PRIORITY on winning that property or having a higher chance of winning on that Tax Deed Auction. So, having a certificate will not give you the property automatically, or give you any priority over anybody else. If you want the property, you have to bid just like anyone else unlike you are the only one interested in it. So, after that, the property gets sold, the county pays all lien holders, and if there is any money leftover, then those funds will be available as 'Surplus' and the owner (or heirs) of the property could request it. And that's it for Tax Liens... Now tax deeds, that's another monster where you could lose money a lot quicker. But I am tired of typing already and will only answer questions if they get asked. Invest wisely and don't believe everything they said on the Internet about how good tax lien and deed investing is. It's s tricky business.
FloridaSalesTax
floridasalestax.com › florida-tax-law › florida-tax-warrant-lien
Tax Warrant / Lien Attorney | Florida Sales Tax Audit Lawyer
Upon filing in the Circuit Court where you own real or personal property, the result is a lien will be put into effect. In Florida, a tax lien is a legal claim imposed by the government on a property or asset due to unpaid taxes.
Address 100 West Cypress Creek Road, Suite 930, 33309, Fort Lauderdale
Dewittlaw
dewittlaw.com › foreclosure › 6041 › how-do-tax-deed-sales-in-florida-work-what-liens-survive
How Does a Tax Deed Sale Work in Florida? | DeWitt Law
February 15, 2023 - A tax lien certificate, or tax certificate is not a purchase of property; rather, it is a lien imposed on the property by payment of the delinquent taxes. According to Florida law, the Tax Collector must conduct a sale of tax certificates beginning ...
Sarasota Tax Collector
sarasotataxcollector.gov › services › tax-services › property-tax › tax-cert-sale
Tax Certificate Sale | Sarasota Tax Collector
A tax certificate is an enforceable first lien against the property for unpaid real estate taxes. The certificate holder is an independent investor who actually pays the taxes for a property owner in exchange for a competitive bid rate of return on the investment.
Nolo
nolo.com › learn by legal issue › foreclosure › losing your home in a tax sale › state laws on property tax sales
Unpaid/Delinquent Property Taxes in Florida: Consequences, Penalties, and Solutions
June 17, 2025 - Instead, there is a multi-step process that gives homeowners several opportunities to resolve their tax debt before a tax deed sale occurs. The tax collector will initially sell the tax lien in a tax lien sale.
Online Sunshine
leg.state.fl.us › Statutes › index.cfm
The 2025 Florida Statutes
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