What Happens If You Don't Pay Property Taxes in Florida?

If you stop paying property taxes in Florida, you do not lose your house overnight. The process is slow, which gives you time, but it has hard dates.

The timeline, step by step

1. Taxes are billed in November. They are due by March 31 of the following year, and discounts apply for paying early.
2. April 1: unpaid taxes become delinquent and start collecting interest.
3. By June 1: the tax collector sells a tax certificate. An investor pays your bill to the county in exchange for the right to collect it back from you with interest. This is a lien. It is not a sale of your house.
4. About two years after the taxes became delinquent, the certificate holder can apply for a tax deed. That starts the process that can end in an auction.
5. The clerk notifies the owner and lienholders, advertises the sale, and sets an auction date.
6. The house is sold at public auction to the highest bidder unless the taxes are paid first.

What you can do along the way

• Pay the delinquent amount (taxes, interest, and fees) to the tax collector. That clears the certificate.
• Ask the tax collector for the exact payoff and the years that are unpaid.
• Once a tax deed application is filed, you can still redeem before the sale is completed. The cutoff is set by the county clerk, so confirm it.

What does not happen

• Nobody takes the house when the certificate is sold.
• You do not get a long window after the auction. Once the winning bidder pays in full and the deed is issued, the right to redeem is gone.

Your mortgage lender

If your mortgage includes escrow, your lender usually pays the taxes for you. If you do not escrow, a lender can also pay delinquent taxes to protect its lien and add the cost to your loan. Check your statements.

What to do this week

1. Look up your parcel on your county tax collector's website to see what is unpaid and for which years.
2. Ask for a payoff amount in writing.
3. If you cannot pay it, look at your options before a sale date is set: pay it, sell, or both. Send me the address and the amounts, and I will lay out the numbers.