Leon County
Frequently Asked
Questions
Revised
3/28/2024
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submitted, withdrawn, or altered at any point up to the closing of the lot on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 would 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.