Orange County Seeks To Unload Unsold 18%-Yielding Tax Certificates To The Public On First Come, Fisrt Serve Basis

In Orange County, Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reports:

• Orange County wants to give people a second chance to pay someone else's overdue tax bill. [...] The first sale, last week, was a bit of a bust. In the past, investors pounced on every chance to earn modest interest rates by purchasing tax certificates through online auctions. But buyers balked last week and bid nothing on 3,277 tax certificates in Orange and almost 15,000 throughout Central Florida. Orange County governments could lose $5 million in unpaid taxes.

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• In hopes of stemming the losses, Orange's tax collector's office plans to have an unprecedented second sale -- possibly on Wednesday -- through the same online service that conducted Orange's bidding at the annual auction last week. [...] The sale will differ from the auction because winning certificate buyers will each get an 18 percent return. It will be first-come, first-declared-the-winning-bidder, said Joe Giovanelli, technology manager for the Orange tax collector.

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• Counties across the state this week reported similar losses. Some of the hardest hit counties were inland with Leon and Marion selling only about half of their certificates, according to a report from the Grant Street Group, which helps conduct the sales. Highlands sold even less.

For more, see Tax auction reprise: come buy someone else's debt (After last week's bust, Orange County is planning a 2nd sale -- but with a twist).