Leon County
Frequently Asked
Questions
Revised
3/29/2023
Frequently Asked
Questions
1. WHAT
IS A TAX CERTIFICATE?
A tax certificate represents a lien against
real property and earns interest at a maximum rate of 18% per year. The amount due to purchase a tax certificate
is listed beside each parcel in the delinquent advertisement. This amount includes the gross tax, interest,
and prorated costs of advertising and the tax certificate sale.
2. WHAT IS A TAX CERTIFICATE
A tax certificate
sale is an electronic process where bids are transmitted and awarded through
the Internet. Each advertised real
estate item is individually bid upon with the award allowing the entity or
person whose bid is the lowest interest percentage to pay the delinquent taxes
and thus be issued a lien in the form of a tax certificate.
Each item is auctioned in the order listed in the delinquent
advertisement publication. The bidding begins at 18% (the maximum rate) and is
bid down in quarter percent increments.
The "winning" bidder's number and rate of interest are
recorded. At the close of the sale, any
item not bid upon is “struck” to the county.
A “test” site is available to any user who wishes to “practice” prior to
bidding. Information entered on the test
site will not be transferred or used in the actual tax certificate sale.
3. WHO CAN REGISTER TO BID ON A TAX
CERTIFICATE?
Any “person” can register
to bid on a tax certificate. According
to Chapter 197.432(6), Florida Statutes, the “person” who will pay the taxes,
interest, costs, and charges and will demand the lowest rate of interest, not
in excess of the maximum rate allowed will be awarded the tax certificate.
4.
Deposits are not required.
5. HOW
To
participate in
The items advertised are divided into 4 Lots. A lot is a subgroup of the advertised list
and serves as a means of organizing tax certificates for the purpose of
facilitating bid submissions. Each tax
certificate in each lot is auctioned independently of every other tax
certificate and arranged in sequential order with a unique sale closing time
for each lot. Bids can be submitted,
withdrawn, or altered at any point up to the closing of the lot on the day of
the sale.
6. WHAT DOCUMENTATION IS REQUIRED BY
FOREIGN BIDDERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE TAX CERTIFICATE
Foreign bidders are
allowed to participate in the tax certificate sale provided they have been
issued an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN number) through
7. WHAT
IF I HAVE PROBLEMS USING THE INTERNET TAX CERTIFICATE
You can always submit a
question through the Contact Us support request page. A bidder must have a computer with internet
access and a web browser (recommended: Internet Explorer 7.0 or higher,
Netscape 7.1 or higher; or Mozilla FireFox).
8. HOW IS A WINNING
During a
live (in person) tax certificate sale, a bidder will lower his bid in
increments until he is the only bidder left or until the interest goes below
his acceptable minimum level, at which point he would drop out. In contrast to the live sale, the Internet
sale has proxy bidding. Proxy bidding is
a form of competitive bidding in which bidders enter the minimum interest rate
that they are willing to accept for each certificate. The tax certificate sale system will submit
bids on behalf of each bidder. The
result of the proxy system is that the electronic agent keeps lowering the bid
to submit by quarter percent increments until you are either the only bidder
left, or until you reach the lowest minimum bid you have set. Zero percent bids will not be treated as
proxy bids. They will be awarded at zero
percent. If you are the only bidder on a
given certificate and your minimum rate is greater than zero percent, the
auction software will award the certificate to you for the actual minimum bid
you submitted. In the case of a tie at
the winning bid rate, the system awards to one of the tie bidders through a
random selection process using a random number generator. In no case will a bidder be awarded a
certificate at a rate lower than his specified minimum acceptable rate.
9. IS
SECURITY AN ISSUE?
The information that you
supply the Tax Collector to perform the internet tax certificate sale is
treated with the utmost level of security, both in storing your information and
in keeping your information private.
Transmission of your information utilizes a security certificate for your
protection. A user password is issued
during the registration process and subsequently required for login to the sale
website.
Please be careful to remember your password, as it is the key to your
access to the
10. WHEN DO THE BIDDERS HAVE TO PAY THE
AMOUNT DUE FOR THEIR PURCHASES?
Bidders
will receive an email invoice on June 1 indicating the total amount due following the end of awards. All payments must be made via ACH Debit (U.
S. Bank only) on the tax
sale website by 5:00 pm (EST) on the date provided on the Tax Certificate Sale
Schedule. Failure to pay by that
date could result in the forfeiture of the certificate(s) and the right to bid
in future sales.
11. WHAT
IF THERE
Any certificates not sold during the sale
will be issued to the County and are offered for public purchase from the Tax
Collector's office at a time to be announced once the tax sale is balanced and
closed. The unsold certificates carry an
18% interest rate per Florida Statutes beginning on the date the certificate
was “struck” to the County.
12. IS
THIS A RISK FREE INVESTMENT?
No. Although it is a secure investment in most
cases, there is an element of risk in purchasing tax certificates. Examples of risk include:
·
If the property value drops significantly in
subsequent tax years, the value of the property may be less than the cost of
the tax deed process.
·
In the event of a correction to the original taxes,
the interest rate on the tax certificate would be the lower of 8% or the amount
bid if it is less than 8%.
·
If the landowner enters into bankruptcy, the
certificate holder is prevented from enforcing the lien (applying for a tax
deed) or transferring the certificate until the bankruptcy is released. In addition, the bankruptcy court has the
authority to lower the interest rate and/or order payments to be made over a
period of years.
·
If the County holds a tax certificate and applies
for the tax deed, no other certificate holders are paid unless the property is
purchased at the tax deed sale or redeemed prior to the tax deed sale. By law, the County does not redeem any other
outstanding tax certificates when making tax deed application. If the property is not purchased or redeemed
after the tax deed auction, the land will eventually escheat to the County and
the certificate holder’s investment would be lost.
13. HOW
In order to clear the tax lien, the property
owner must pay the amount of the tax certificate plus interest calculated from
the month of the certificate sale to the month of payment. When a tax certificate is redeemed and the
interest earned is less than 5% of the face of the certificate, a mandatory
charge of 5% interest is due. Payments
to redeem tax certificates can be processed online at www.leontaxcollector.net with an electronic check
(at no charge) and our records will reflect the account paid in full
immediately. Other forms of payments
include cash, check, cashier’s check, money
order, or debit/credit cards. If payment
is made with a debit/credit card a 2.5% processing fee will apply.
14. AFTER THE TAX CERTIFICATE IS REDEEMED,
HOW DOES THE TAX CERTIFICATE HOLDER RECEIVE HIS/HER MONEY?
A check will be issued to the certificate
holder within 15 business days after the date of redemption.
Yes.
Interest earned is reported to the
16. WHAT
IF THE TAX CERTIFICATE IS NOT REDEEMED?
If the taxes are not paid within two years
from the date the taxes became delinquent, (April 1) the certificate holder may
submit a tax deed application which ultimately may result in the sale of the
property at a public auction, commonly referred to as a tax deed sale. A certificate holder who wishes to apply for
a tax deed must redeem all other outstanding certificates, any omitted taxes,
plus interest and current taxes, if due, covering the property.
17. WHAT
IS THE
The life of a tax certificate is seven years
from the date of issuance, which is the first day of the Tax Certificate
Sale. If the certificate holder does not
apply for a tax deed within seven years and the property owner has not redeemed
the certificate, the certificate is null and void and the certificate holder’s
investment is lost.
18. WHAT HAPPENS IF A BIDDER IS AWARDED A
CERTIFICATE
The bidder will be liable for the transaction
and will be required to pay for the certificate.