Tax Deed and Tax Certificate Sales — Indian River County, Florida

Indian River County enforces an unpaid real estate tax bill through the Tax Collector, who must sell a tax certificate on the parcel by June 1, and later through the Clerk of the Circuit Court, who auctions tax deeds.

The countywide sequence is published by the Indian River County Tax Collector. Taxes not paid by the end of March turn delinquent on April 1st of the following year; its own example is that 2025 property taxes become delinquent on April 1, 2026. A 3% penalty is added to the gross tax that day. Accounts still open in May pick up an advertising fee and run in a local newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks, and any parcel still unpaid gets a tax certificate sold against it no later than June 1st. The same rules apply to a lot in Fellsmere, a condominium on the barrier island near Vero Beach or a house in Sebastian.

Most bills never get that far. The audited levies and collections schedule prepared by the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller for fiscal 2025 shows a $181,187,502 levy with $174,416,303, or 96.26%, collected currently and $52,102 collected as delinquent taxes. The same schedule summarizes the rules for both kinds of property: real estate certificates bear interest of 18% per year or any lower rate bid, unsold certificates are held by the County, and delinquent taxes on personal property bear 18% interest until paid by seizure and sale of the property or barred by the seven year statute of limitations.

The Indian River County Tax Collector sells certificates in an online auction where bidders offer the lowest interest rate they will accept, in quarter-percent steps, up to the 18% annual ceiling.

The Tax Collector sends bidders to its Tax Certificate Sale website, hosted on LienHub, and Florida Statutes 197.432 sets the ground rules for that kind of sale. A tax collector may hold the sale by electronic means, which may allow for proxy bidding, may require a reasonable deposit from anyone who wants to bid, and must offer every certificate on the property as it is listed on the tax roll, continuing day to day until each one is sold. Bids are accepted in fractional interest rate bids of one-quarter of 1 percent only.

Ties are left to the Tax Collector. When several offer the same lowest rate, the statute leaves the tie-breaker to the tax collector, naming the bid received first or a random-number generator as acceptable methods. Once certificates are ready, the Tax Collector sends written or electronic notice, and payment is due within 48 hours or part or all of the deposit may be forfeited; a certificate is issued only after payment. The Tax Collector's 5 percent commission on the delinquent taxes and interest is included in the face value of the certificate, and the office keeps an official list of tax certificates sold showing each buyer and interest rate bid.

Certificates no one buys go to Indian River County at the maximum rate. Small homestead debts are kept out of the auction entirely: a certificate representing less than $250 in delinquent taxes on homestead property must be issued to the county rather than sold to an investor. If the taxes, interest and costs are paid before a certificate is awarded or struck to the county, the Tax Collector may not issue it at all.

A certificate holder may file for a tax deed with the Indian River County Tax Collector once two years have passed since April 1 of the year the certificate was issued, and the Tax Collector may charge a $75 application fee.

The rules are in Florida Statutes 197.502. A private applicant must pay, at the time of application, everything needed to redeem or buy all other outstanding certificates on the parcel, any omitted, delinquent and current taxes, and the costs of bringing the property to sale, including property information searches and mailing. To identify who must be notified, the tax collector contracts with a title or abstract company for a property information report, then delivers a statement to the Clerk of the Circuit Court naming the titleholders and lienholders to be noticed before the sale.

Indian River County carries a duty of its own as holder of struck certificates. Under the statute it must seek a tax deed on every county-held certificate where the Property Appraiser's latest roll values the property at $5,000 or more, and it has the option to do so below that value. Its opening bid on a non-homestead parcel is the sum of every outstanding certificate plus omitted, delinquent and current taxes, interest, and the costs and fees the county paid.

An owner can still redeem after a deed application is filed. The Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller states that an owner or mortgage holder can stop a tax deed sale by paying what is owed, and that the full redemption amount is paid to the Tax Collector, not the Clerk. The Clerk adds that most of the parcels it advertises are redeemed before auction day.

Indian River County tax deed auctions are run online by the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller at indianriver.realtaxdeed.com, and every sale is first advertised weekly for four weeks in a row.

Bidders register on that site for a username and password and place a deposit for every parcel they expect to win. The Clerk of the Circuit Court FAQ sets the deposit at $200.00 or 5% of the bid, whichever is higher, which means $200 covers any bid up to $4,000, since 5% of $4,000 is $200. Full payment must reach the Clerk's Office within 24 hours of the sale by wire transfer, cash, cashier's check or money order, and the Clerk expects the deed to reach the buyer 7 to 10 days after the sale. Sale notices may run in one of several Indian River County newspapers, and the Clerk cites section 197.512(1) for the once-a-week, four-week advertising rule.

The Clerk of the Circuit Court is blunt about risk. Every tax deed sale is buyer beware, the office will not say which liens survive the sale, and it notes that most title insurers want a quiet title action before they will insure a parcel bought by tax deed, so the Clerk points bidders to the official records search and to their own attorneys.

Overbid money is held by the Indian River County Clerk to pay government liens and other claimants, and land that draws no bidder goes on a lands available for taxes list that the county may buy first.

On surplus, the Clerk of the Circuit Court FAQ says overbid funds pay any government liens first, notices of surplus funds go to all interested parties under chapter 197, and after the claim period the money is either disbursed by priority or, if no claims arrive, transferred to the State of Florida Department of Revenue. When priority cannot be settled, the Clerk may file an interpleader.

Florida Statutes 197.502 covers parcels with no taker. The Clerk enters the land on the lands available for taxes list and immediately notifies the Indian River County commission. For the first 90 days the county may buy the land for the opening bid or waive that right, after which any person or government may purchase it from the Clerk. Taxes are not extended against a listed parcel; each year's missed tax is instead added to the minimum bid. Three years after the day the land was offered at public sale, it escheats to the county free and clear, and the Clerk executes an escheatment tax deed vesting title in the Board of County Commissioners.

Certificate redemptions and deed applications go to the Tax Collector at 1800 27th Street, Building B, Vero Beach, while tax deed auctions and surplus claims go to the Clerk at 2000 16th Avenue, Vero Beach.

The Tax Collector's own site lists Carole Jean Jordan as Tax Collector, her Main Office at 1800 27th Street, Building B, and (772) 226-1338, and adds a Sebastian Office at Sebastian Corners, 1921 U.S. Highway 1; appointments are required for in-office services. The Clerk's site lists Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller Ryan Butler at the courthouse, 2000 16th Avenue, phone (772) 226-3100. Because certificates are sold on the tax roll for the whole county, the same two offices handle parcels in Sebastian, Fellsmere, Vero Beach, Indian River Shores, Orchid and the unincorporated county.

Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Indian River County Tax Collector and Clerk of the Circuit Court websites.