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Tax Deed & Foreclosure Sales
Starting Monday, March 2, 2009, online foreclosure sales will be held at:
The Walton County Clerk of Court welcomes you to the Tax Deed & Foreclosure Sales information area. The links to the current listing of sales is located at the bottom of each section.
Tax Deed Sales
Property owners are required to pay property taxes on an annual basis to the County Tax Collector. If the owner fails to pay his/her taxes, a tax certificate will be sold by the Tax Collector at a date and time advertised by the Tax Collector.The Tax Collector then certifies the tax deed application over to the Clerk, who computes the base bid and charges the certificate holder for the costs of holding the sale. The Clerk’s fee is $60.00 for each application, and other varying costs for advertising, sheriff’s service fees, and certified mail must be paid before the sale date is set. Once the costs have been paid, the Clerk sets a sale date, notifies the certificate holder, the property owner, and all lien holders, and the sale is held in accordance with Florida Statutes.
Notices of pending tax deed sales are published in a newspaper with local circulation. Tax deed files are available for inspection at the Walton County Courthouse, located at 571 U. S. Highway 90 East, DeFuniak Springs, Florida, or the Walton County Courthouse Annex, 31 Coastal Centre Boulevard, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida 32459, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Central Time. You must do your own research for the property involved. You may check on property improvements with the Walton County Property Appraiser’s office.
Starting Monday, March 2, 2009, online Tax Deed sales will be held at: www.walton.realforeclose.com . Anyone may bid on the property, and must register with the tax deed clerk prior to the sale. The clerk announces each application, along with the name of owner and legal description, and the base bid. The floor is then opened for verbal bidding. Each bidder should announce his name with their first bid. If the bidder is acting in a representative capacity, he should identify the person he is representing. Each bidder must call out the actual amount of their bid. The property is sold to the highest bidder.
At the time of the sale, the highest bidder shall post with the Clerk a nonrefundable deposit of 5 percent of the bid or $200.00, whichever is greater. The remainder of the bid is due by 11:00 a.m. CST the next day. Payment must be made in the form of cash, cashier’s check, or money order. Payment should be made to the tax deed clerk at the Clerk’s office, Walton County Courthouse, DeFuniak Springs, Florida. Upon payment of the remainder of the bid, the Clerk will issue a tax deed to the property. The sale is final when the tax deed is signed by the Clerk. The property owner may redeem his/her property by paying all back taxes and costs up until the Clerk of Court signs the tax deed.
If the certificate holder is not the successful bidder, he/she is reimbursed all monies paid, plus interest earned from the monies received from the successful bidder. Valid liens are then paid out of the monies received. Notarized claims must be submitted to the Clerk’s office to substantiate a claim. The former property owner may claim any excess funds. If no claims are made on the excess funds, these funds are turned over to the Board of County Commissioners 90 days after the sale.
The Clerk’s office is not authorized to give legal advice. If you require legal advice, you should obtain it from an attorney or some other source. The Clerk’s office assumes no responsibility for any encumbrances on any property offered for sale.
If you have additional questions concerning the procedure for tax deed sales held by the Clerk of the Court, please contact our office at (850) 892-8115 or (850) 267-3066.
Click here for a current listing of upcoming tax deed sales.
Mortgage Foreclosure Sales
Notices about mortgage foreclosure sales are published in a newspaper with local circulation, once a week. You must do your own research for the property involved. The mortgage foreclosure court files and official records for the county are kept in the Civil Division of the office of the Clerk of Court, 571 U. S. Highway 90 East, Room 208, DeFuniak Springs, Florida. The court file contains information about the amount owed on the property, as well as the legal description of the property. However, the street address of the property will probably not appear in the court file. The status of property taxes can be checked at the office of the Walton County Tax Collector, located at 49 N. 6th Street, DeFuniak Springs, Florida. You can check on property improvements with the Walton County Property Appraiser’s office, located at 650 E. Nelson Avenue, DeFuniak Springs, Florida.
Anyone may bid on the property, but they must appear at the sale in person, and register with the foreclosure clerk prior to the sale. The auctions begin at 11:00 a.m., Central Time. The clerk will announce the case number, names of the parties involved in the lawsuit, and the legal description of the property. The floor is then opened for verbal bids. Each bidder should announce their name with their first bid. If the bidder is acting in a representative capacity, he must identify the party he is representing. The actual amount of the bid should be called out.
At the time of the sale, the successful high bidder must post with the Clerk a non-refundable deposit equal to 5% of the final bid. This deposit may be in the form of cash, personal check, cashier’s check, or money order, and will be applied to the sale price at the time of payment. If the final payment is not made within the prescribed time period, the Clerk will re-advertise the sale, resell the property, and pay all the costs of the sale from the deposit. Any remaining funds from the deposit will be applied toward the judgment.
The final payment is due before 4:00 p.m., Central Time on the day of the sale, unless stated otherwise in the judgment, and must be paid in the form of cash or cashier’s check. When the final payment is made, the bidder must also pay a registry of court fee in addition to the sale amount. This fee is made up of 3% of the first $500.00 of the bid and 1.5% of the remaining balance. The registry fee is collected pursuant to section 28.24, Florida Statutes.
Payment is to be made to the foreclosure clerk at the office of the Clerk of Court, Room 208, Walton County Courthouse, DeFuniak Springs, Florida.
A Certificate of Title will be recorded after the tenth day from the date of the sale, if no objections to the sale are filed. The defendant has ten days after the sale to file an objection. If an objection is filed, the Judge will rule at a hearing as to whether or not a Certificate of Title is to be issued.
The Clerk’s office assumes no responsibility for any encumbrances (judgments, mortgages, taxes, and other liens) on any property offered for sale. It is in your best interest to have a title search done by an attorney or title company. If the property is occupied, it is possible you will have to take legal action to get possession of the property. You may not have access to the property without permission of the owner. The Clerk’s office assumes no responsibility for the availability of any property offered for sale.
The Clerk’s office is not authorized to give legal advice. If you require legal advice, you should obtain it from an attorney or some other source.
If you have additional questions concerning the procedures for foreclosure sales held by the Clerk of Court, please contact our office at (850) 892-8115 or (850) 267-3066.
Click here for a current listing of upcoming foreclosure sales.