PLEASE NOTE: The purchase of a County certificate is an interest bearing lien at a rate of 18% and does not guarantee you will acquire ownership of the property. It is the responsibility of the bidder to research properties prior to purchasing certificates. The Highlands County Tax Collector’s Office makes no claim as to the merit of any investment.

Access our Reports page at RealEstateReports. From the list of available reports we have prepared two reports to choose from for certificate purchases. “CNTY CERTS 2011 SALE & PRIOR” provides a listing of previous year certificates available for purchase. The other choice “CNTY CERTS 2012 SALE” provides a listing of only certificates available for purchase as a result of the 2012 sale. Click on the standard report of your choice, then click on “view selected report”. This will load the most current list of certificates. You may then download the list into a CSV, Excel, or PDF report. The purchase cost is indicated in the column named “Cert Balance Amount”.
The forms below are required either before or at the time your list of requested items are submitted, unless you have already received a bidder number from previous purchases.

To retrieve forms: W-9, Bidder Registration Form and Direct Deposit.

Florida Statute 197.432(4) prohibits the sale or transfer of tax certificates on properties granted homestead and a delinquent tax value of less than $250.00.

Pursuant to Florida Statute 119.071: Each person registering to participate in our annual online tax certificate sale or register as a tax certificate bidder for any purpose shall be required to provide his or her social security number. Disclosure of social security numbers obtained through this requirement shall be limited to the purpose of compliance with IRS laws requiring the Tax Collector to report interest earned by certificate holders by means of 1099. This information will not be provided to third parties or other government agencies unless required by state or federal law.

You must complete the Request To Purchase County Certificates form (or you submit an excel spreadsheet containing the same criteria), and submit with one of the payment types indicated on the Request form. The list must be submitted via email to Tax@hctaxcollector.com, by fax to 863-402-6697, or by standard mail to the address below. NOTE: Payment by any other means only pays the tax and DOES NOT result in the purchase of the certificate. Erroneous payments may result in the forfeiture of funds. County certificates are sold on a first come-first serve basis. Any certificates requested, but are no longer available upon processing will be refunded to the certificate purchaser via ACH. You may obtain a list of your certificates by accessing our Reports page and selecting “Bidder’s Certificate List” and following the report download instructions above. The Reports page updates nightly at midnight.

Eric T. Zwayer
Highlands County Tax Collector
540 S. Commerce Avenue
Sebring, FL 33870
www.hctaxcollector.com