• In the event of an error, omission, double assessment, or when ordered by a court the tax
certificate may be canceled or corrected by the authority of the Department of Revenue. In this
case, 8% interest per annum or the tax certificate interest rate, whichever is less, will be paid,
except as revised by law or court order. With bankruptcy cases, the rate is determined by the
Bankruptcy Court.
• When tax certificates are redeemed (paid) and the interest earned is less than 5%, a mandatory
minimum interest of an absolute 5% is due on the face value of the certificate. This applies to all
tax certificates except those with an interest rate bid of 0%.
• In order for the property owner to clear the property of the tax certificate lien, the face amount of
the tax certificate plus the rate of interest at which the tax certificate was sold plus a redemption
fee is paid to the Tax Collector. The interest is calculated from the month of the sale to the month
of actual redemption. The Tax Collector then remits the principal (face amount of tax certificate)
and the interest earnings to the certificate holder of record.
• Tax certificates bid at 0% DO NOT accrue interest or the minimum 5% charge.
• Interest earned is taxable and must be reported to the IRS.
• Special properties and those sale items that are not sold at the auction are issued or struck to the
county as a tax certificate at the maximum 18% interest. County held tax certificates, other than
those on homestead real estate property taxes under $250.00, may be acquired by individuals
after the close of the tax sale. The Tax Collector will announce the date(s) these certificates
become available.
When does a tax (lien) sale take place?
The Tax Collector is required to conduct a tax sale to collect the preceding year's unpaid real estate
taxes. The sale must start on or before June 1st, unless a late tax roll makes this impossible. The Tax
Collector must advertise the delinquent taxes in a general circulation newspaper. The advertisement
is publicized three consecutive weeks prior to the tax sale. This includes the place, date and time of
the tax sale and a listing of each parcel showing the parcel account number, the property owner's
name, and the total cost of the delinquent taxes (face amount). The parcels are consecutively
numbered for reference during the sale. The delinquent tax amount (tax certificate's face amount)
includes the gross tax, interest, commission, advertising costs, and the cost of the tax sale. The sale
can be conducted “live” or the sale can take place on the Internet. Marion County has chosen to
conduct this tax sale via the Internet.
How does an internet auction work?
The auction, called a Tax Sale, is a process where each advertised real estate item is individually bid
upon with the winner of the item being the entity or person whose bid is the lowest interest
percentage. Each item is auctioned in the order listed in the publication. The bidding begins at 18%
(the maximum rate) and is bid down in quarter percent increments. The "winning" bidder's number
and rate of interest are recorded. Any item not bid upon is "issued" (struck) to the county. With an
Internet auction, bids are transmitted and received through the Internet using a computer and a web
browser.
What if I have problems using the internet auction system?
The Internet Auction Site has helpful instructions at each step in the sale function. There will be an
auction site available to any users who wish to “practice” on a practice site prior to bidding. This
practice site will not charge your bank account when making deposits nor will any of the information
be used for the live auction. If you have bid before in Marion County some of your information will be
available if you remember your login password. A bidder must have a computer with Internet access
and a web browser (recommended: Internet Explorer 10.0 or higher, current release of Chrome or
Mozilla FireFox). For newer versions of Internet Explorer please use “Compatibility View” from the