Florida Tax Lien question

[Adam Harper]

Hi all, been reading about tax lien in Florida and was curious enough to go on the county tax collector to see what available. I saw quite a few available for purchase. Digging a bit deeper and noticed that all owners are out-of-state, or PO Box address, or companies. How do I find out the actual addresses of the properties? How do I find out if there are any other liens against the same properties? Greatly appreciated for any advice.

[Mike S.]

In Florida you can buy tax certificates.

These tax certificates don’t give you any rights to the property and your are not even allowed by law to contact the owner until the two years hold redemption period is over.

When you buy a tax certificate, you are expecting the owner will eventually pay the back taxes. You will then be paid back the cost of your certificate plus the interest owned that could be up to 18% per year with a minimum payment of 5% of the total.

If the owner does not pay back the taxes after 2 years. You have up to 7 years to force the property to be sold at auction. You will have then to pay back all the other back taxes and certificates plus some fee. The property will then go to public auction and be sold to the highest bidder. The first bid will be the total amount of money that you paid. If some one else bid and win the auction, you will get your money back plus interest. If no one bids, then the property will be yours.

So basically, tax certificates in Florida are not a way to buy property. Owning a tax certificate does not give you any advantage at the public auction.

Tax certificates are just an investment that can give you a return of up to 18% per year with sometime more when you get paid back the 5% minimum interest a few days after buying the certificate.

When you buy a certificate you have to be cautious of the value of the property, its use, the amount of total tax delinquency vs the total cost of the property, and the likelihood that the property can be sold at auction if needed. Be warned about useless piece of land 1 feet wide by 200 feet long in between roadways, prior single family home that don’t exist anymore but are now vacant land, properties where the amount of back taxes is higher than the appraised value of the property, ...