Electronic Tax
Certificate Sale Terms
Modified
on 04/28/2023
Each
and every person desiring to bid in the 2023 Electronic Tax Certificate Sale
must agree to the terms and conditions of the Tax Certificate Sale as well as
the acknowledgement concerning fair bidding practices incorporated herein by
reference and made a part of the terms of sale governing the 2023 Electronic
Tax Certificate Sale. By clicking “I agree to the terms of sale” located on the
bidder login screen, you agree to be bound by this Electronic Tax Certificate
Sale Terms.
The
2023 Electronic Tax Certificate Sale shall be conducted in accordance with
Florida Statutes. The Tax Collector will conduct the sale of tax certificates
for unpaid taxes by electronic means, which will allow for proxy bidding. The
Electronic Tax Certificate Sale will be uniform, fair, efficient, and
accountable for all persons bidding in the sale.
Each
and every person, as that term is defined in Florida law, may register to bid
so long as the bidder complies with Florida law and the terms of sale.
The
Marion County Tax Collector has the responsibility to administer the tax
certificate sale and is charged to hold the sale in a fair and equitable
manner. Only the Tax Collector or his
designee may conduct and control the sale.
The Tax Collector shall not allow bidders to control or attempt to
obstruct the sale or interfere with its conduct. The “Tax Certificate Sale
Guidelines and Procedures” published by the Florida Department of Revenue
are to be followed. These guidelines and
procedures define “bidders” and “agents”.
Section 12 specifically provides:
“12.
Rotational Bidding: Rotational Bidding
is a violation of the law. Rotational
bidding means any system, procedure or behavior, established or encouraged or
allowed to be established or encouraged, whereby two or more bidders at the
sale or any bidder together with the tax collector, prevent or attempt to
prevent free, open and competitive bidding on each and every tax sale
certificate.”
“If a
tax collector observes any type of rotational bidding, the tax collector should
take whatever measures are necessary to prevent the occurrence or continuance
of rotational bidding. These measures
may include removing a bidder who attempts to disrupt a sale.”
In the event that the Marion
County Tax Collector or his designee observes any type of rotational bidding by
individual bidders that bid in a manner to prevent a free and open competitive
auction, the bid(s) shall be disallowed.
Specifically, should an agent provide bids for tax certificate sale
items that are identical or substantially similar so as to provide an
advantage, these bids shall be deemed to prevent or attempt to prevent free,
open and competitive bidding.
The Marion County Tax
Collector has provided a mechanism for bidders to manually enter bids or to
submit bids electronically. Any
automated program used to access the auction shall be deemed as an attempt to
prevent free, open and competitive bidding.
Should the Tax Collector or his designee observe the use of an automated
program during the tax certificate sale, the offending bidder(s) may be removed
from the tax certificate sale and deposits may be forfeited. Any bidders deemed as attempting to prevent
free, open and competitive bidding during a tax certificate sale shall be contacted
by the Marion County Tax Collector or his designee regarding their exclusion
from the sale and/or deposit forfeiture.
The
Tax Collector requires the payment of a reasonable deposit from every person
desiring to bid in the 2023 sale in the amount of 10% of the amount they intend
to purchase.
Proxy
bidding by electronic agent: “Proxy bidding” means a method of bidding by which
a bidder authorizes an agent, whether an individual or an electronic agent, to
place bids on his or her behalf. The
Electronic Tax Certificate Sale software utilized by the Tax Collector does
utilize an electronic agent to bid on each person’s behalf by proxy to ensure
that the low bidder receives the certificate at the quartile rate of interest
immediately below the next highest bidder.
Proxy
bidding by individual agent: You may authorize another person to place a bid(s)
on your behalf so long as agent complies with the policies of the sale and
completes and submits the agreement incorporated herein by reference.
If
you are bidding on more than 10% of the sale being offered, your bids must be
submitted by file upload and not by manually entering individual item bids.
If
multiple bidders offer the same lowest rate of interest, the Tax Collector
shall determine the method of selecting the bidder to whom the certificate will
be awarded. For purposes of determining the person who wins the certificate in
case of a tie bid, Tax Collector will utilize a random number generator. All
persons desiring to bid in the 2023 Electronic Tax Certificate Sale must
complete the agreement concerning fair bidding practices. By clicking “I Agree
to the terms of sale” located on the Bidder Login screen, you certify that you
will abide by the agreement requirements concerning fair bidding practices.
By
clicking “I Agree to the terms of sale” located on the Bidder Login screen, you
certify that you will abide by the Internal Revenue Service policies providing
that Employee Identification Numbers may not be utilized for the sole purpose
of bidding in a Tax Certificate Sale in Florida.
The
Tax Collector shall accept bids in even increments and in fractional interest
rate bids of one-quarter of 1 percent only.
Each
certificate shall be awarded to the person who will pay the taxes, interest,
costs, charges and who will demand the lowest rate of interest, not in excess
of the maximum rate of interest allowed by Florida law. Any person who fails or
refuses to pay any bid made by, or on behalf of, such person is not entitled to
bid or have any other bid accepted or enforced except as authorized by the Tax
Collector.
The
holder of a tax certificate may not directly, through an agent, or otherwise
initiate contact with the owner of property upon which he or she holds a tax
certificate to encourage or demand payment until 2 years after April 1 of the
year of issuance of the tax certificate.
If
a certificate is not purchased it will be “issued” (struck) to the county at
18%.
These
terms of sale relate to the electronic tax certificate sales that are conducted
utilizing a competitive bid auction process and does not apply to a county
held, direct purchase transaction or the transfer of certificates after the
electronic tax certificate sale has concluded or adjourned.
All
tax certificates issued to an individual may be transferred at any time before
they are redeemed or a tax deed is executed. The Tax Collector shall record the
transfer on the record of tax certificates sold. The Tax Collector shall receive $2.25 as a
service charge for each transfer.
See
below for Participating Bidder Agreement. Each registered bidder will be
presented with this form when logged into the tax sale site. The web form must
be completed, signed by e-signature, dated and submitted through the tax sale
site in order to bid in the tax certificate sale.
By checking “I AGREE TO THE TERMS OF SALE” located
on the Bidder Login Screen, the bidder affirms, under penalty of perjury that
they have, read, understood and agree to abide by the terms of sale as outlined
above.
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This form is an example.
Do not send in this form to the county.
You must fill in form after you log in to the Tax Sale site.
Participating bidder agreement guidelines:
All bidders:
Items a, b, and c shall be completed by all
bidders. For letter c, “NONE” is a valid answer if b is not Florida and there
is no principal office in Florida. Otherwise c
should contain a Florida address.
Individuals:
In addition to items a, b, and c, individuals
using their social security number must answer items j through t. If the
individual / sole proprietorship has been assigned an Employer Identification
Number (EIN) by the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) they should
also complete items g, h and i.
Partnerships:
In addition to items a, b, and c, Partnerships
must answer items d, e, and g through t. Partnerships will not answer
item f.
Corporations, Sub S Corporations, LLC’s, LLP’s
and LP’s:
In addition to items a, b, and c,
Corporations, Sub S Corporations, LLC’s, LLP’s, and LP’s must answer
items f through t.
Review
Submitted Participating Bidder Agreements will
be reviewed for completeness. All items must be completed. If all
items are not completed Marion County Tax Collector personnel will contact the
bidder by email concerning the discrepancies. Bidders are not
afforded an opportunity to correct the submitted Participating Bidder
Agreement. Bidders must re-submit another Participating Bidder Agreement
in its entirety. This re-submitted Participating Bidder Agreement will
also be reviewed for completeness.
Timing of deposits and participating bidder
agreement submission
The above items should be submitted early
enough in advance that if a problem does occur there is sufficient time to
correct the problem.
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Tax Certificates Auction
PARTICIPATING
BIDDER AGREEMENT
I,
______________________ (name of person or individual), am the duly authorized
agent, officer or representative for the entity named above which has
registered to participate in the Marion County Tax Certificate Sale.
("Bidding
Entity") and I hereby represent and warrant that on this date, I have the
power and authority to bind the Bidding Entity and I have the necessary
personal knowledge to make the following warranties and representations:
a. ⎕ The Bidding Entity is a
____________________________________________________________ (type of legal
entity e.g. sole proprietor, partnership, corporation,
nonprofit, estate, etc.);
b. ⎕ The Bidding Entity is domiciled in the state
of _____________________. (Indicate the state where the Bidding Entity has been
formally created);
c. ⎕ The principal office in Florida of the Bidding
Entity is ___________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________.
d. ⎕ If the Bidding Entity is a partnership,
attached as Exhibit A is a list of names and mailing addresses of ALL partners
and their Florida Registration Numbers, if other than individuals.
e. ⎕ If the Bidding Entity is a partnership, the
name and street address of the agent in Florida who shall maintain a list of
the names and address of all partners is
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
f. ⎕ If the Bidding Entity is a corporation,
limited liability company, limited liability partnership or limited
partnership, the name and street address of the register agent in Florida is __________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________.
g. ⎕ The Bidding Entity has been issued an Employer
Identification Number (EIN) by the United States Internal Revenue Service
(IRS).
h. ⎕ The Bidding Entity has obtained its EIN issued
by the IRS for the purpose of federal tax administration and it was not
obtained for the sole purpose of participation in tax certificate auctions, tax
lien auctions, or lotteries.
i. ⎕ The Bidding Entity has not obtained its EIN by
way of lease, license or sublicense for the purpose of participation in the
Marion County Tax Certificate Sale.
j. ⎕ I agree that if requested by representatives
of the Marion County Tax Collector, I will provide official documentation
evidencing the legal existence of the Bidding Entity within 72 hours of such
request.
k. ⎕ I agree that, on behalf of Bidding Entity, I
will not collaborate with any other bidder(s) to gain an unfair competitive
advantage in the random number generator in the event of a tie bid(s) on a tax
certificate.
l. ⎕ I agree that I will not work with any other
Bidding Entity to increase, maintain or stabilize interest rates in this tax
certificate sale.
m. ⎕ I agree that I will not employ any bidding
strategy designed to create an unfair competitive advantage in the tiebreaking
process in the upcoming tax certificate sale.
n. ⎕ I agree that I will not work with any other
bidder to develop a bidding strategy that results in an identical interest rate
being placed on any tax certificate(s).
o. ⎕ I agree that I will not engage in any bidding
strategy that will result in a rotational award of tax certificates.
p. ⎕ The tax certificate(s) the Bidding Entity will
bid upon, and the interest rate(s) bid, will be arrived at independently and
without direct or indirect consultation, communication or agreement with any
other bidder.
q. ⎕ The tax certificate(s) the Bidding Entity will
bid upon, and the interest rate(s) to be bid, have not been disclosed, directly
or indirectly, to any other bidder, and will not be disclosed, directly or
indirectly, to any other bidder prior to the close of bidding.
r. ⎕ No attempt has been made or will be made to,
directly or indirectly, induce any other bidder to refrain from bidding on any
tax certificate, to submit complementary bids, or to submit bids at specific
interest rates.
s. ⎕ The bids to be placed by the Bidding Entity
will be made in good faith and not pursuant to any direct or indirect,
agreement or discussion with, or inducement from, any other bidder to submit a
complementary or other noncompetitive bid.
t. ⎕ I understand that this agreement is made under
penalty of perjury, is intended to, and will be, relied upon by the Marion
County Tax Collector, and any misstatement in this affidavit may result in
forfeiture of any deposits posted, as well as any tax certificates, tax liens,
or tax deeds issued.
By electronically signing this
agreement below, I declare under penalty of perjury pursuant to Chapter 837,
Florida Statutes, that I have read the foregoing agreement and that the facts
stated in it are true; that I understand
whoever knowingly makes a false statement in writing with the intent to mislead
a public servant in the performance of his/her official duty shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in Sections 775.082
or 775.083; that I am a duly authorized agent, officer, or representative
for ___________________________________________________________________________
; and that I have received, understand and agree to abide by the aforementioned
polices of the Tax Collector governing the electronic tax certificate sale
incorporated herein by reference.
I agree that my electronic signature has full
force and effect of a handwritten signature as provided for in Section 668.004
Florida Statutes.
I agree that in the event I have questions,
comments, and/or concerns about a stated violation of these terms by the Tax
Collector, I will contact the Tax Collector or his/her designee to resolve the
alleged violation.
I agree that disputes arising from the determination
by the Marion County Tax Collector of bidding violations, any and all disputes
with respect thereto shall have exclusive venue and jurisdiction in the Circuit
Court of Marion County, Florida
_________________________________________________ _________________________
Participant Date
_________________________________________________
(Typed or Printed Name
of Participant)