How to File a Tax Deed Application in Florida

To file a tax deed application in Florida, you take your tax certificate to the county tax collector’s office once two years have passed since April 1 of the year the certificate was issued, pay a $75 application fee, and front the money needed to redeem every other outstanding certificate on the property plus the clerk’s costs of bringing it to sale.¹ The tax collector then forwards everything to the Clerk of the Circuit Court, who runs the notice process and the public auction. The filing itself is simple. The money and the risk around it are not.

When You’re Eligible to File

You can file once two years have elapsed from April 1 of the year your certificate was issued. The window closes at seven years: if no application is filed within seven years of issuance, the certificate becomes void and the county cancels it.² That gives you roughly five years to act.

You should also know you may not be the only applicant in line. For properties valued at $5,000 or more on the most recent assessment roll, the county is required to apply for a tax deed on any certificates it holds. For properties under $5,000, the county has discretion.¹

Where You File and the Base Fee

The application goes to the county tax collector where the property sits. The tax collector can charge a $75 application fee, plus reimbursement for online application services if applicable.¹ That’s the only number that stays small. The rest of what you owe depends on the condition of the tax record for the property.

What You Have to Pay Up Front

Filing requires more than the $75. As the certificate holder (if you’re anyone other than the county), you must pay the tax collector all amounts needed to redeem every other outstanding tax certificate on the property, plus interest on those certificates, any omitted or delinquent taxes with interest, and current taxes if due.¹ The purpose is to clean up the tax position on the parcel so the clerk can convey a tax deed free of other certificate liens.

You also pay the costs of bringing the property to sale. That includes title searches, mailing costs, newspaper advertising, and potential resale costs. The clerk sends you a notice of these costs, and if you fail to pay within 30 days, the application is canceled.¹ On a parcel with several years of unpaid taxes and multiple outstanding certificates, these upfront outlays can run to several thousand dollars before the auction is scheduled.

You do get this money back if the property sells. The amounts you paid are rolled into the minimum bid at auction, with interest. You don’t get it back if the owner redeems before the sale, except through the interest already accruing on your original certificate.

What the Clerk Does After You File

Once the tax collector forwards your application, the clerk runs the notice process. All interested parties must be notified by certified mail with return receipt requested at least 20 days before the sale date, and each mailed notice carries a warning that the property will be sold at public auction on a specific date unless back taxes are paid.³

The sheriff of the county where the legal titleholder lives must also personally serve notice at least 20 days before the sale, or post a copy at the titleholder’s last known address if personal service fails. Failure of anyone to actually receive the notice does not invalidate the tax deed.³ The U.S. Supreme Court has held that mortgage holders and other identified parties with a legal interest are constitutionally entitled to notice beyond newspaper publication, requiring personal service or mail.⁴

The clerk publishes notice in a local newspaper once a week for four consecutive weeks, and no sale can take place until at least 30 days after the first publication.⁵

How the Auction and Minimum Bid Work

The Clerk of the Circuit Court conducts the auction on the date and time in the published notice. The minimum bid is built from the amount needed to redeem your tax certificate, plus the charges you paid for the costs of sale, redemption of other certificates, and other applicant costs, plus interest at 1.5 percent per month running from the month after the application date through the month of sale, plus the costs of serving notice.⁶

Homestead properties carry an extra component that catches some applicants off guard. When the property is assessed as homestead on the latest tax roll, the minimum bid must include an amount equal to one-half of the property’s assessed value.⁶ Factor this into your math before filing on a homesteaded parcel, because it pushes the opening price well above what you’ve put in.

Your bid as the certificate holder is automatically set at the minimum. Other bidders compete against it. The winning bidder posts a nonrefundable deposit of 5 percent of the bid or $200, whichever is greater, and must pay in full within 24 hours, excluding weekends and legal holidays. If the winner doesn’t pay in time, the clerk cancels all bids and readvertises the property.⁶

If nobody outbids you and you win, you still have to pay the full amount, including documentary stamps, recording fees, and the homestead value component if applicable. If you don’t pay within 30 days, the clerk enters the property on a list titled “lands available for taxes.”⁶ At that point you’ve lost your right to the deed.

Risks to Weigh Before You File

Three risks sit on top of the dollars you’re committing.

The Owner Can Redeem Up Until the Deed Issues

Florida law allows the owner to redeem at any point after the certificate is issued and before the tax deed is actually issued, as long as full payment for the deed hasn’t already been made to the clerk, including documentary stamps and recording fees. If the owner redeems after you’ve already fronted thousands in title search, publication, and other-certificate costs, you recover those sums through the redemption payoff, but you don’t get the property. You get your statutory interest and nothing more. A certificate earning minimum interest returns at least 5 percent of its face amount under the mandatory floor.⁷

You May Not Get a Clean Title

A tax deed wipes out most private encumbrances, but two categories survive. Liens held by a municipal or county government, special district, or community development district survive if they weren’t fully paid from the sale proceeds, so a buyer can inherit outstanding code enforcement liens, utility liens, or special assessment balances.⁸ Certain easements also survive, including those for conservation purposes, public utilities, drainage, and access to other land, provided they are recorded or evidenced by visible occupation.⁹

Beyond those surviving interests, title insurers generally will not insure a tax deed title without a court order confirming it. To resell to a buyer who needs financing, or to obtain owner’s title insurance, you’ll typically need a quiet title action in the circuit court of the county where the property sits. Plan on several months and additional legal costs beyond the auction price.

The IRS Has Its Own Redemption Window

If the property carries a federal tax lien, the United States has 120 days from the date of sale to redeem the property, or the period allowed under state law, whichever is longer.¹⁰ If the IRS redeems, it pays the sale price plus certain costs and takes the property. You can’t contract around this, so check the record for federal liens before you file, and don’t improve a property with a federal lien during the redemption window.

None of this makes the application process complicated. It makes the decision to file complicated. Run the numbers on every outstanding certificate, every omitted tax, the clerk’s cost estimate, the homestead component if it applies, and the surviving government liens before you hand over the application and the check.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 197 – 197.502 Application for Obtaining Tax Deed by Holder of Tax Sale Certificate; Fees
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 197 – 197.482 Expiration of Tax Certificate
3
Florida Senate. Florida Code 197 – 197.522 Notice to Owner When Application for Tax Deed Is Made
4
Legal Information Institute (LII). Mennonite Board of Missions, Appellant v. Richard C. Adams
5
Florida Senate. Florida Code 197 – 197.512 Notice, Form of Publication for Obtaining Tax Deed by Holder
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 197.542 – Sale at Public Auction
7
Florida Senate. Florida Code 197 – 197.472 Redemption of Tax Certificates
8
Florida Senate. Florida Code 197 – 197.552 Tax Deeds
9
Florida Senate. Florida Code 197 – 197.572 Certain Easements Survive Tax Sales and Deeds
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 28 Section 2410