Electronic Tax Certificate Sale Terms

 

Modified on 04/23/2024

 

Each and every person desiring to bid in the 2024 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 2024 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 2024 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 2024 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, the Tax Collector will utilize a random number generator. All persons desiring to bid in the 2024 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.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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. 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

  2024 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)