Tax Certificates

I have an issue with the non payment of Real Estate Taxes for two properties I own in Florida. I understand that Tax Certificates may now have been raised against my properties and that they may be auctioned. The amount due is stated at around $5,300 for each property.

The amounts are unpaid due to the disappearance of our managing agent who has absconded with the funds due from our rental income. Of course I do appreciate that this is not the County's problem and that the taxes are still overdue (delinquent as it is termed in the US).

I do not have the funds to settle these sums and I am unsure as to what the ramifications of this are as my google searches are not providing clear answers.

Would I be correct in saying that I have a two year period to bring the taxes, including any interest and penalties, up to date before the holder of the tax certificate can cause me any further heartache on this matter. The interest rate may be an eye watering 18% during this time.

Any guidance would be much appreciated

Keith,

Obviously you need to contact the County tax office and see what payment plan you can work out.
The goal, I would expect, is to keep the properties from being sold at auction which would ruin your credit and still leave you with mortgage payments for properties you do not own.

The second thing you need to do is contact the police and file theft charges against your agent who took your rental funds.

Thank you to everyone for your help.

The taxes due were from 2015 and as such the position is not really serious yet. I appear to have two years to settle these although the imposition of interest and advertising charges has increased the sum payable considerably. This is probably going to result in the sale of one of the properties and this is not really the best time to be a seller.

The County were most unhelpful and inflexible due to seemingly rigid rules. I am unable to pay this under any type of instalment scheme and must pay the amounts due in full in cleared US funds. The managing agent has clearly perpetrated a fraud on my family and the pursuit of them may be a lost cause. I am loathed to incur any further costs and my insurers are not immediately able to determine whether my coverage extends to this eventuality. The whole thing is an utter nightmare.

My wife had handled all of these matters when she was alive and following her death I had stupidly relied upon the managing agent to deal with the homes on my family's behalf.

Thankfully she had made the managing agent aware that she could check the taxes were settled online and at least it is only one year of overdue taxes (which is bad enough. I wish that I had been so diligent and less trusting.

Once again thank you all for taking the time and trouble to help.

Tim,

The Police were the first people I had spoken to when I had become aware of the problems. They, unlike the County Tax Collector, were fantastically helpful but the core issue becomes finding the perpetrator and he and his colleagues have simply vanished overnight along with owners' funds and leaving a large amount of unpaid debt.

Hopefully they are now out of the business for good. As to hopes of recovering anything; I'm just resigned to having lost the money and any recovery would just be a nice surprise.

Best Regards