Can one use a tax lien to transfer ownership? Inherited FL home.

[David Shulski]

My Parents have a 1/6 ownership interest in an inherited Florida residence.  They manage all the affairs of the house (rents, expenses etc.), and the other 5 owners have no interest in taking care of the property.  It would not be easy to coordinate a sale for multiple reasons.  They spoke to an attorney in Florida who said, in most of these cases like this, the house is given up to a tax lien.  Would it be unethical or even illegal for my Parents to stop paying the taxes, knowing that I was going to buy the tax lien?  Again, the other owners could care less about the property, and my Parents really don't want to be landlords, so it's most likely going to be lost to a tax lien either way.  One more thing, I have never bought a tax lien so I'm not even sure if I could even pull this off if I wanted to.  Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Ian Cox]

@David Shulski If you buy the tax lien you are far from guaranteed to getting the property.  If you buy a lien for 2015 unpaid taxes, you will have to wait until April 1, 2018 before you can "foreclose" by sending the property to a tax deed sale.  When you foreclose you'll have to pay all the back taxes and various fees so the total all in costs will typically be 3-4 times the price you paid for the lien(ie just 2015 taxes).  Once it goes to a tax deed sale 6-9 months later, other bidders can bid up the price of your home to a price where you don't want to compete by also bidding on the property.  What county is this house in? What is the approximate tax assessed value on it?  

David Shulski

David Shulski