Lee County, FL tax sales
Lee County, Florida sells both tax lien certificates and tax deeds. The Tax Collector runs an annual certificate sale (18% maximum, bid down), and unredeemed certificates move to a Clerk of the Circuit Court tax deed auction after about two years, under Florida Statutes Chapter 197.
Verified Jul 4, 2026 against official county and state sources.
New here? Read how Florida tax sales work, the difference between a lien and a deed, and redemption periods.
How Lee County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Office of the Lee County Tax Collector
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual online sale on or before June 1
- Next expected
- on or about June 1, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
- Sale list
- County-held certificate list
Registration and deposit
Register on LienHub before the sale. Bidding begins at 18 percent and moves downward in 0.25 percent increments, with each certificate issued to the bidder accepting the lowest interest rate.
County-held certificates may be purchased on LienHub after the initial sale. Certificate holders may apply for a tax deed after two years.
Register on LienHub (Grant Street Group)Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Lee County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller - Tax Deeds
- Frequency
- Online on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. as scheduled
Registration and deposit
Register on the RealAuction site and place a deposit of $200 or 5 percent of your maximum bid, whichever is greater, for each item you expect to win. A single RealAuction login works across the county's foreclosure and tax deed sites.
Tax deed sales run on RealAuction (lee.realtaxdeed.com); the Clerk lists results and Lands Available through the leeclerk.org tax deed pages.
Register on RealAuction (RealTaxDeed)Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
Two over-the-counter paths. County-held certificates from the Tax Collector can be bought on LienHub after the sale. Separately, parcels unsold at a tax deed sale move to the Clerk's Lands Available list.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.
County offices
Clerk of the Circuit Court (runs the deed sale)
Lee County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller - Tax Deeds
Kevin C. Karnes
2075 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Fort Myers, FL 33901 (Tax Deed mail: P.O. Box 9367, Fort Myers, FL 33902)
Official websiteNotes for Lee County
- Lee follows the standard Florida split: the Tax Collector runs the annual certificate (lien) sale on LienHub, and the Clerk runs the tax deed auctions on RealAuction.
- Tax deed auctions are held online on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. (lee.realtaxdeed.com), so the schedule differs from counties that sell on a fixed monthly weekday.
- One RealAuction login covers both the county's tax deed and foreclosure sales, but each sale needs its own deposit.
Florida statewide rules
- Redemption
- The owner (or anyone) can redeem a certificate at any time after it is issued and before a tax deed is issued. The two-year clock that lets a certificate holder apply for a tax deed runs from April 1 of the year the certificate was issued.
- Deed deposit
- The high bidder posts a nonrefundable deposit of 5 percent of the bid or $200, whichever is greater, at the time of the sale, applied to the final price.
- Homestead deeds
- If the property was assessed as homestead on the latest roll, the opening bid also adds one-half of its latest assessed value. This sharply raises the floor price on homestead parcels and suppresses investor demand for them.
A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does Lee County, Florida sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Lee County follows Florida's hybrid system. The Tax Collector sells tax-lien certificates each year, and the Clerk of the Circuit Court holds tax deed auctions on parcels whose certificates go unredeemed after about two years.
When is the Lee County tax certificate sale?
- Annual online sale on or before June 1. Registration and bidding happen on the county's online platform. Always confirm the exact date with the Tax Collector before the sale.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.
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