Florida Tax Lien Question

[David Polcari]

I've been exploring tax liens as I work my way through the various avenues of real estate investing. Something that's intrigued me so far has been the county owned tax liens in Florida. I've noticed a lot of the county owned liens have tax certificates that have been held over two years, up to 5-6 years in some cases. These properties have new liens up for sale but I'm hesitant to buy any because I'm not sure why the certificate holders haven't started the foreclosure process even though they are years past the required redemption period (2 years in Florida). What would cause a certificate holder to not start the foreclosure process or are these instances where they have started the process and they've just dragged out for a few years? What would be your risk exposure if your purchased the most recent certificate from the county? Thanks y'all!