The Florida Senate

Any person may redeem a tax certificate or purchase a county-held certificate at any time after the certificate is issued and before a tax deed is issued or the property is placed on the list of lands available for sale. The person redeeming or purchasing a tax certificate shall pay to the tax collector in the county where the land is situated the face amount of the certificate or the part thereof that the part or interest purchased or redeemed bears to the whole. Upon purchase or redemption being made, the person shall pay all taxes, interest, costs, charges, and omitted taxes, if any, as provided by law upon the part or parts of the certificate so purchased or redeemed.

When a tax certificate is redeemed and the interest earned on the tax certificate is less than 5 percent of the face amount of the certificate, a mandatory charge of 5 percent shall be levied upon the tax certificate. The person redeeming the tax certificate shall pay the interest rate due on the certificate or the 5-percent mandatory charge, whichever is greater. This subsection applies to all county-held tax certificates and all individual tax certificates except those with an interest rate bid of zero percent.

The tax collector shall receive a fee of $6.25 for each tax certificate purchased or redeemed.

When only a portion of a certificate is being redeemed or purchased and such portion can be ascertained by legal description, the tax collector shall make a written request for apportionment to the property appraiser. Within 15 days after such request, the property appraiser shall furnish the tax collector a certificate apportioning the value to that portion sought to be redeemed and to the remaining land covered by the certificate.

When a tax certificate is purchased or redeemed, the tax collector shall give to the person a receipt and certificate showing the amount paid for the purchase or redemption, a description of the land, and the date, number, and amount of the certificate, certificates, or part of certificate which is purchased or redeemed, which shall be in the form prescribed by the department. If a tax certificate is redeemed in full, the certificate shall be surrendered to the tax collector by the original purchaser and canceled by the tax collector. If only a part is purchased or redeemed, the portion and description of land, with date of purchase or redemption, shall be endorsed on the certificate by the tax collector. The certificate shall be retained by the owner, or the tax collector if the certificate is a county-held certificate, subject to the endorsement. The purchase or redemption shall be entered by the tax collector on the record of tax certificates sold.

When a tax certificate has been purchased or redeemed, the tax collector shall pay to the owner of the tax certificate the amount received by the tax collector less service charges.

Nothing in this section shall be deemed to deny any person the right to purchase or redeem any outstanding tax certificate in accordance with the law in force when it was issued. However, the provisions of s. 197.573 relating to survival of restrictions and covenants after the issuance of a tax deed are not repealed by this chapter and apply regardless of the manner in which the tax deed was issued.

The provisions of subsection (4) do not apply to collections made pursuant to the provisions of s. 192.037.