Ad Valorem Taxes
The matter in which delinquent taxes are collected is prescribed by Florida Statutes and is briefly described
as follows:
Marion County real estate taxes are due each year November 1, payable through March 31 of the following
year, with discounts allowed for early payments and a 3% penalty imposed beginning April 1. Items
remaining unpaid by Mid-April are advertised in the local newspaper per Florida Statute 197.402 to notify
the property owners of outstanding tax liability.
According to Florida Statutes, on or before June 1, the Tax Collector must conduct a Tax Certificate Sale
of the unpaid taxes on each parcel of property. The sale is operated on a competitive bid basis with interest
bids beginning at 18% and progressing downward. When a certificate is sold against a piece of property,
the successful bidder pays the delinquent taxes on that property and holds a certificate which constitutes a
first lien against the property.
Once a certificate is sold, the property owners may redeem the certificate by payment of taxes plus penalty,
advertising, fees, and interest. For information concerning tax certificates/ tax certificate sales, contact the
Marion County Tax Collector at (352) 368-8279.
Tax Deed Sales
If the certificate is not redeemed within a two-year period, the certificate holder may begin proceedings for
a tax deed sale. Upon application for a tax deed by the certificate holder, the Tax Collector hires an abstract
company to do a tax and informational search to determine if there are any other outstanding taxes on the
property. If there are, the applicant pays these and they become part of the starting bid at the actual tax deed
sale. Once the search is completed, certification is made to the Clerk of the Circuit Court and the application
is delivered to the Clerk. The item is then advertised again for four consecutive weeks prior to the tax deed
sale with the applicant paying the advertising cost as part of the starting bid.
The tax deed sales are held online at www.marion.realtaxdeed.com If you are already
registered in the real auction system for foreclosure sales, you do not need to re-register.
For any questions concerning the real auction training contact them at Realauction.com or
(954) 734-7400 or (877) 361-7325.
The property is auctioned to the highest bidder, with the starting
bid being the accumulated total of all delinquent taxes, penalties, advertising charges, tax search costs and
fees, which have been paid by the certificate holder who has applied for the tax deed. The amount of all tax
certificates that were sold after the filing of the tax deed application and omitted taxes and current taxes are
also added to the opening bid. If the applicant is not the highest bidder, he is reimbursed the amount he has
paid up to this point. If there are no bids at the sale and/or the applicant is the purchaser of the property,
the applicant will be required to pay any additional required fees/taxes.
Marion County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Page 2 of 3
The Monday prior to the sale, each participant wishing to place a successful bid on a property must post
with the Clerk a deposit of $200.00 or 5% of the anticipated high bid, whichever is greater, for each property
they would like to bid on. Deposits submitted for foreclosure sales are maintained separately from the Tax
Deed accounts. Deposits may be made in the form of wire transfer (include a 6.00 wire fee), cash, cashier’s
check, or money order. Deposits are $200 for bids up to $4000.00, or 5% of the bid amount, for bids over
$4000.00. The Tax Deed deposit must be set up in the Real Auction Account by the Monday before the
scheduled tax deed sale. NO PERSONAL CHECKS ARE ACCEPTED.
A Tax Deed is a deed from the County to the highest bidder, issued for non-payment of real estate taxes
by the property owner who forfeits all rights to the property by this default.
When considering tax deed properties, please be advised that ALL PROPERTIES ARE SOLD BUYER
BEWARE: Any property that is the subject of a Tax Deed Sale is sold on an “AS IS” basis, without any
warranties or representations of any kind or character, express or implied, with respect to the property,
including, but not limited to, warranties or representations as to matters of title, land use, zoning, tax
consequences, physical or environmental conditions, availability of access, ingress or egress, valuation,
governmental approvals, governmental regulations, or any other matter or thing relating to or affecting the
property. Without limiting the foregoing, there are no warranties or representations concerning: (a) the
ownership of the property; (b) whether the property is subject to any liens, easements or restrictions; (c) the
land use, zoning, value, condition, merchantability, marketability, profitability, suitability or fitness for a
particular use or purpose of the property; (d) whether any improvements, including buildings or mobile
homes, are located on the property, or the value thereof; (e) the manner or quality of the construction or
materials incorporated into any part of the property; (f) the manner, quality, state of repair, or lack of repair
of the property, or of any improvements thereon; or (g) whether utilities are available to the property.
Property Information
1. Locating the property:
The legal description as reflected on the tax certificate is the basis for the tax deed application. The
address of the property is not provided. There are two types of legal descriptions:
a) Subdivisions These descriptions are identified by a subdivision name, Block number and
Lot number. The plat maps are available in the Marion County Records Center.
b) Metes & Bounds Consists of section, township, range with "metes" - a distance in a
particular direction. Forms a measurement to where the land may extend; and "bounds" - a
reference mark on the ground. These maps are available in the Property Appraiser's office
or on their website www.pa.marion.fl.us
c) The link on the Real Auction website reflected as “parcel number” will link you back to the
appropriate information on the Marion County Property Appraiser website.
2. Determining whether there are improvements on the property or whether the property is vacant:
Check the current tax roll which is on the Property Appraiser's website (www.pa.marion.fl.us). This
will reflect whether an improvement is being taxed on the property or whether the property is being
taxed as vacant land. The property record card, available in the Property Appraiser's Office or at
their website may give further information as to any improvements on the property.
Tax Deed Files – Tax Deed Search on – www.marioncountyclerk.org
Marion County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Page 3 of 3
1. The document titled “Tax Collector Certification” is the statement from the Tax Collector to the
Clerk that payment has been made for all outstanding certificates or, if the certificate is held by the
county, that all appropriate fees have been deposited, and stating that the following persons are to be
notified prior to the sale of the property. The last page of this document is a listing of all the OR
Book and Pages included from the Official Records search.
2. Liens & Judgments against property: Governmental liens & judgments survive the issuance of the
tax deed and are satisfied as fully as possible with any overbid monies from the sale. Liens of
governmental units not satisfied in full survive the issuance of the tax deed. Should you have any
questions concerning what liens & judgments survive the tax deed sale, consult an attorney, we
cannot advise you. Quiet title suits to clear the title of properties are Civil Law suits and are not
handled by the tax deed clerk. Information on this procedure and costs would be available from an
Attorney that handles these lawsuits.
3. Current taxes may be due and the land will be sold subject to the current taxes. To view a listing of
the taxes included in the tax deed application, refer to the DR 513 Web form located in the tax deed
file.
4. To determine which files have been redeemed or pulled from the tax deed sale, use the sale date as
the search option. One of the columns that appears when the index opens is titled “Status”. By
double clicking on the word status, this will group like items together. Those properties with the
status REDEEM, REMOVE or RESCHED will not be sold on the scheduled auction date.
5. Immediately after the sale of each property, a non-refundable deposit of $200 or 5% of the bid
amount whichever is greater will be locked into your real auction account. The deposit must be set
up in the Real Auction by the Monday before the scheduled tax deed sale. NO PERSONAL
CHECKS ARE ACCEPTED.
6. The bid amount less deposit, recording fees and documentary stamp fees is required within 24 hours
after the tax deed auction. PAYMENT IS TO BE BY CERTIFIED CHECK, CASH, WIRE
TRANSFER OR CASHIER’S CHECK ONLY. IF PAYMENT IS MADE BY WIRE
TRANSFER, YOU MUST ALSO INCLUDE A $6 FEE. NO PERSONAL CHECKS,
TRUSTEE ACCOUNT CHECKS OR CREDIT CARDS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
According to FS 197.542 (2) The clerk may refuse to recognize the bid of any person who has
previously bid and refused, for any reason, to honor such bid. This is enforced by the Marion County
Clerk’s Office.
Copies from the public records are available at a cost of $1.00 per page.
Reference information:
Florida Statute Chapter 197
Florida Administrative Code Chapters 12D
Websites of Interest:
Real Auction – www.marion.realtaxdeed.com
Marion County Clerk of Court - www.marioncountyclerk.org
Marion County Property Appraiser - www.pa.marion.fl.us
Marion County Tax Collector - www. mariontax.com
Florida Law Online: http://www.floridalawonline.net
