Buying Rules - 2020 Lee County Tax Certificate Auction
1. Review the Site Documents: If you are not completely familiar with the statutes governing tax liens in this state, read the “Tax Certificate Process” document located at the left of the home page. It is a plain English summary of the law and will only take ten minutes to read. Remember, the purchase of a certificate does not convey title to the land. While purchasing tax certificates is generally a good investment, there is some risk. Understand the risks and employ the “buyer beware” philosophy.
2. Review the Summary: Review the Summary of Dates and Important Information below.
3. Register: You will create your own User Name and Password as part of the process.
4. Bidding Process:
1. Decide how much money you want to invest in tax certificates for this auction. ($10,000 for example).
2. Enter that amount as your budget.
3. Bid on as many certificates as you would like. Your budget will limit how much you can win no matter how many bids you place. As soon as you win tax certificates that equal the amount of your budget, all other bids you placed are cancelled.
Please be aware that some accounts included in the Items For Sale may be in active bankruptcy proceedings.
5. As a batch closes, you may see the results for that batch by clicking “Results” on the website menu. Click the “Sold To” link on the auction results page to display all bids on that item along with other useful information. After seeing results, you can change your bids in any unclosed batches.
6. Payment Requirements: All bidders are required to pre-authorize an ACH debit by the Lee County Tax Collector’s office in the amount of their winnings. Payment for certificates won will be accepted by ACH only. Please ensure your financial institution will allow an ACH debit to your account before placing bids.
7. Certificate Redemptions: All redemption funds for certificates purchased will be sent via ACH to the authorized account and routing number provided for redemptions.
8. Requirements to Participate - Registration begins Monday, April 27th, 2020 at 10:00 AM ET and ends Wednesday, May 13th, 2020 at 11:59 PM ET.
To become a qualified participant in the 2020 Lee County tax certificate sale, you must:
a. Register on this web site.
b. Provide bank information for processing your final payment via ACH debit.
c. Provide bank information for processing your certificate redemptions.
d. Create a budget conveying the amount of your anticipated purchases to the Tax Collector.
e. Accept ALL terms and conditions in the documentation provided on this web site.
Failure to meet ALL of the eligibility requirements, in the time provided, will affect your ability to participate in the sale.
Summary of Important Dates
| Bidder Accounts | |||
| Allow foreign bidder registrations | Yes | ||
| Single simultaneous bidder rule | No | ||
| Auction Information | |||
| Bidding style | Proxy Bid Auction | ||
| 0 value bids use proxy system | No | ||
| SubAccounts | |||
| Allow sub-accounts | No | ||
| Automatic certificate rollup / rollup fee | No | $0.00 | |
| Auction Dates and Times | |||
| Registration begins (site opens)** | 04/27/2020 at 10:00 AM ET | ||
| Deposits, Registration fees and Budgets begin | 04/27/2020 at 10:00 AM ET | ||
| Bidding begins | 04/27/2020 at 10:00 AM ET | ||
| Deposits, Registration fees and Budgets end** |
05/19/2020 at 3:00 PM ET |
||
| Participation Requirements |
Set a budget Enter ACH Redemption Information Enter ACH Auto-Debit Payment Information |
||
| Participation Requirements Due Date | 05/19/2020 at 3:00 PM ET | ||
| Registrations end | 05/13/2020 at 11:59 PM ET | ||
| First batch closes | 05/19/2020 at 8:00 AM ET | ||
| Batch closing interval | 60 Minutes | ||
| Last batch closes | 05/19/2020 at 3:00 PM ET | ||
| Auxiliary batch opens (If applicable) | N/A | ||
| Auxiliary batch closes (If applicable) | N/A | ||
| Payment due date | 05/21/2020 at 5:00 PM ET | ||
| Budget, Deposit and Payment Information | |||
| Deposit or Budget required (% of estimated winnings) | 100% | ||
| Minimum deposit amount | $0.00 | ||
| Registration Fee | $0.00 | ||
| Registration Fee Refundable | No | ||
| Registration Fee Applied to Winnings | No | ||
| Deposit / Payment types acceptable: | Deposits | Payments | |
| Budget | Yes | --- | |
| ACH | No | No | |
| ACH auto-debit final payment | --- | Yes | |
| Wire transfers | No | No | |
| Counter payments | No | No | |
| Redemptions available via ACH? | Yes | ||
| Public Access | |||
| Public computers available | Lee County Library 2450 First St Fort Myers FL 33901 | ||
| ** Subject to change. The site will open when approved by the County. | |||
For an explanation of any of the terms above, please visit the FAQs.