(1) Real property advertised for sale to the highest bidder as a result of an application filed under s. 197.502 shall be sold at public auction by the clerk of the circuit court, or his or her deputy, of the county where the property is located on the date, at the time, and at the location as set forth in the published notice, which must be during the regular hours the clerk’s office is open. The amount required to redeem the tax certificate, plus the amounts paid by the holder to the clerk in charges for costs of sale, redemption of other tax certificates on the same property, and all other costs to the applicant for tax deed, plus interest at the rate of 1.5 percent per month for the period running from the month after the date of application for the deed through the month of sale and costs incurred for the service of notice provided for in s. 197.522(2), shall be the bid of the certificateholder for the property. If tax certificates exist or if delinquent taxes accrued subsequent to the filing of the tax deed application, the amount required to redeem such tax certificates or pay such delinquent taxes must be included in the minimum bid. However, if the land to be sold is assessed on the latest tax roll as homestead property, the bid of the certificateholder must be increased to include an amount equal to one-half of the assessed value of the homestead property as required by s. 197.502. If there are no higher bids, the property shall be struck off and sold to the certificateholder, who shall pay to the clerk any amounts included in the minimum bid not already paid, including, but not limited to, the documentary stamp tax, the recording fees, and, if the property is homestead property, the moneys to cover the one-half value of the homestead within 30 days after the sale. Upon payment, a tax deed shall be issued and recorded by the clerk. If the certificateholder fails to make full payment when due, the clerk shall enter the land on a list entitled “lands available for taxes.”
(2) The certificateholder has the right to bid as others present may bid, and the property shall be struck off and sold to the highest bidder. The high bidder shall post with the clerk a nonrefundable deposit of 5 percent of the bid or $200, whichever is greater, at the time of the sale, to be applied to the sale price at the time of full payment. Notice of the deposit requirement must be posted at the auction site, and the clerk may require bidders to show their willingness and ability to post the deposit. If full payment of the final bid and of documentary stamp tax and recording fees is not made within 24 hours, excluding weekends and legal holidays, the clerk shall cancel all bids, readvertise the sale as provided in this section, and pay all costs of the sale from the deposit. Any remaining funds must be applied toward the opening bid. The clerk may refuse to recognize the bid of any person who has previously bid and refused, for any reason, to honor such bid.
(3) If the sale is canceled for any reason or the buyer fails to make full payment within the time required, the clerk shall readvertise the sale within 30 days after the buyer’s nonpayment or, if canceled, within 30 days after the clerk receives the costs of resale. The sale shall be held within 30 days after readvertising. Only one advertisement is necessary. The amount of the opening bid shall be increased by the cost of advertising, additional clerk’s fees as provided for in s. 28.24(22), and interest as provided for in subsection (1). If, at the subsequent sale, there are no bidders at the tax deed sale and the certificateholder fails to pay the moneys due within 30 days after the sale, the clerk may not readvertise the sale and shall place the property on a list entitled “lands available for taxes.” The clerk must receive full payment before the issuance of the tax deed.
(4)(a) A clerk may conduct electronic tax deed sales in lieu of public outcry. The clerk must comply with the procedures provided in this chapter, except that electronic proxy bidding shall be allowed and the clerk may require bidders to advance sufficient funds to pay the deposit required by subsection (2). The clerk shall provide access to the electronic sale by computer terminals open to the public at a designated location. A clerk who conducts such electronic sales may receive electronic deposits and payments related to the sale. The portion of an advance deposit from a winning bidder required by subsection (2) shall, upon acceptance of the winning bid, be subject to the fee under s. 28.24(11).
(b) This subsection does not restrict or limit the authority of a charter county to conduct electronic tax deed sales. In a charter county where the clerk of the circuit court does not conduct all electronic sales, the charter county shall be permitted to receive electronic deposits and payments related to sales it conducts, as well as to subject the winning bidder to a fee, consistent with the schedule in s. 28.24(11).
(c) The costs of electronic tax deed sales shall be added to the charges for the costs of sale under subsection (1) and paid by the certificateholder when filing an application for a tax deed.
Cited 30 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 2006 WL 3313749
...LEWIS, C.J., and WELLS, ANSTEAD, QUINCE, CANTERO, and BELL, JJ., concur. NOTES [1] Section 197.432(1), Florida Statutes (2006), authorizes the sale of tax certificates on property for which ad valorem taxes have not been paid. [2] Sections 197.502-197.542, Florida Statutes (2006), set out the steps from application for a tax deed to sale of the deed at public auction....
...r 60 days have expired from the mailing of the original tax notice, whichever is later."). [8] See § 197.432, Fla. Stat. (2006) ("Sale of tax certificates for unpaid taxes"); § 197.472, Fla. Stat. (2006) ("Redemption of tax certificates"). [9] See § 197.542, Fla....
Cited 6 times | Published | United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Florida. | 6 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 308, 1992 Bankr. LEXIS 1847
...so far. This might happen when the property is desirable or valuable or when some interested party decides to redeem it although they may not let it go this far. In the absence of other bids, a Tax Deed is issued to the certificate holder. Fla.Stat. § 197.542 (1991)....
Cited 6 times | Published | United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Florida | 25 Collier Bankr. Cas. 2d 720, 1991 Bankr. LEXIS 1269, 1991 WL 170965
...Prior to the dissolution, the corporation failed to pay its ad valorem taxes on the 16 acres of land and a tax certificate was sold to Barbara Ruben pursuant to § 197.432, Fla.Stat. On September 27, 1990, Ms. Ruben applied for a tax deed on the 16 acres. On December 2, 1990, pursuant to Florida Statute § 197.542, the property was sold at public sale and the defendants were the highest bidders for the sum of $13,500....
Cited 4 times | Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 16 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1150, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 2699
...er has paid all fees, and the clerk administers the sale of the property at auction. § 197.502(4) and (5). If no higher bid is made than the value necessary to redeem the tax certificate, then the certificate holder gets a tax deed to the property. § 197.542....
...See also State ex rel. Town of Crescent City v. Holland, 151 Fla. 806, 10 So.2d 577 (1942). If the certificate is not redeemed, the land covered by the certificates is sold by the clerk of the circuit court at a public auction as set forth in the notice. Fla.Stat. § 197.542(1)....
...§§ 197.502, .512, .522, .542. If there are no bids higher than the statutory minimum bid, the property is sold to the certificate holder. If there are other bids, the certificate holder may bid and the property will be sold to the highest bidder. § 197.542....
...ium unit in Bay County, Florida. Capital Plaza, Inc., Appellee, initiated the action, claiming that it is the rightful owner of the unit pursuant to a tax deed it obtained through the tax deed sale process set forth in sections 197.512, 197.522, and 197.542, Florida Statutes (2009)....
...Additionally, section 197.512(1), Florida Statutes (2009), mandates that after a tax certificate has been acquired and all fees connected therewith are paid, "the clerk shall publish a notice once each week for 4 consecutive weeks at weekly intervals in a newspaper selected as provided in s. 197.402." Section 197.542(2), Florida Statutes (2009), requires that at the time of the sale, the high bidder pay five percent of the bid or $200.00, whichever is greater. The statute further requires that the high bidder tender full payment of the balance of the bid, plus taxes and costs, within twenty-four hours of the sale. § 197.542(2). The high bidder's failure to comply with these obligations requires the clerk to cancel the sale and readvertise a new tax deed sale of the property. Id. Section 197.542(3), Florida Statutes (2009), describes the procedure and notice requirements *1213 for all necessary resales due to cancellation of the first sale....
...It provides in pertinent part as follows: [T]he clerk shall immediately readvertise the sale to be held within 30 days after the date the sale was canceled. Only one advertisement is necessary. No further notice is required ... The clerk must receive full payment before the issuance of the tax deed. § 197.542(3) Fla....
...sales following a cancellation of the first one. The fact that the Legislature enacted a separate section prescribing the clerk's notification duties for all subsequent tax deed sales belies Appellants' claim that section 197.522(1)(a) applies. See § 197.542(2) Fla. Stat. (2009) (requiring the clerk to "readvertise the sale as provided in this section," rather than section 197.522). In section 197.542(3), the Legislature uses clear and unequivocal language in setting forth the requirements for a second sale; namely, the clerk must readvertise the sale once, the new sale must take place within 30 days of the canceled sale, and no other notice is necessary....
...That the Legislature did not include any language to the effect that titleholders must be re-notified through certified mail of any subsequent tax deed sales suggests that it did not believe such notice was necessary. In urging us to reject the trial court's interpretation of section 197.542(3) as violative of the right to due process, Appellants point us to Miller v....
...4th DCA 2002). There, the clerk of the court sold a landowner's property to satisfy delinquent taxes. Miller, 823 So.2d at 204. The clerk canceled the initial sale when the high bidder failed to make payment, triggering the readvertisement provisions of section 197.542(3)....
...§§ 197.-502, .512, .522, .542. If there are no bids higher than the statutory minimum bid, the property is sold to the certificate holder. If there are other bids, the certificate holder may bid and the property will be sold to the highest bidder. § 197.542....
...The owner of property sold to pay delinquent taxes complains that a Clerk’s sale is defective because he was not given notice of a second sale date after he failed to attend the first sale date set by the Clerk of Court. In affirming, we find no constitutional defect in the statutory notice provision. Section 197.542(3) provides that notice of a tax deed sale need not be sent to the landowner when the first sale is not completed because the high bidder fails to make payment and a second sale is held within thirty days....
...Thus, because the clerk sent notice of the certificate application and tax deed sale to the landowner as required by subsection one, the sheriffs failure to serve another notice when the first auction failed to result in an actual sale does not invalidate the tax deed. 608 So.2d at 809 . Section 197.542(3) is obviously not identical to section 197.522, in that the former pertains to a secondary notice of the same sale while the latter pertains to original notice to the title holder of the fact that the property will be sold for unpaid taxes....
Published | Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | 1992 WL 22967
...paid all fees, and the clerk administers the sale of the property at auction. § 197.502(4) and, (5). If no higher bid is made than the value necessary to redeem the tax certificate, then the certificate holder gets a tax deed *1559 to the property. § 197.542....
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