FL Tax Lien certs with multiple years

[Joe Mclain]

I have found an OTC FL Tax cert that I am interested in.   There are 3 years of this certificate available so if I buy the 2011-12 certificate, that is at least 2 years old and will enable me to initiate the Tax Deed Process.   Can someone explain what happens to the 2012-13 and the 2013-14 tax certificates?   How do these cert holders get paid?   

Thanks,

Joe

[Patrick L.]

If the property is homesteaded it will be 50% of the assessed value, for everything else the opening bid is the full payoff of all the certificates/interest plus costs (title search, advertising, etc).  You don't need to buy all 3 years, you can just buy the oldest and payoff the rest when you apply for the tax deed.  

The costs would look something like this.   

http://www.pinellasclerk.org/tributeweb/ShowPDF.as...

By the time it actually goes to auction the opening bid ends up a little bit higher due to other costs being added, in the example above the opening bid was $8,919.80 (and it sold for $52,400).    The original certificate was for $1895.99 but the certificate holder had to put up all of the money for the rest of them in order to apply for the tax deed.  In this case all of the funds were recovered and the property went 3rd party but it wasn't a big windfall for the certificate holder, they only recover what they are owed.  The extra funds go as surplus to other lien holders or to the previous owner.