RAYMOND SCHAFER AND RONALD SCHAFER, APPELLANTS,
v.
ERADIO ABREU, APPELLEE
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The Schafers challenged a tax deed sale of their property to Eradio Abreu, claiming they never received proper notice of the tax sale. The court reversed the summary judgment in favor of Abreu, holding that Florida law required the tax collector to send notice to the address listed on the 1999 tax roll, not the incorrect address on a subsequently executed warranty deed.
The court held that despite the incorrect address on the warranty deed, the tax collector was required by statute to send notice to the address reflected on the 1999 tax roll (20301 W. Country Club Dr. #729) because Raymond Schafer was the legal titleholder in 1999, the last assessment period before the 2000 tax year, and the statute requires notice be mailed to the address on the latest assessment roll when the legal titleholder remains the same.
[1] A tax collector must notify the legal titleholder of record prior to a tax deed sale if the owner's address appears on the record of conveyance.
[2] If the legal titleholder of record is the same as the person to whom the property was assessed in the last assessment year, notice of a tax deed sale may be mailed to the…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the tax collector shall deliver to the clerk of the circuit court a statement that payment has been made for all outstanding certificates ... and stating that the following persons are to be notified prior to the sale of the property: (a) Any legal titleholder of record if the address of the owner appears on the record of conveyance of the lands to the owner. However, if the legal titleholder of record is the same as the person to whom the property was assessed on the tax roll for the year in which the property was last assessed, then the notice may only be mailed to the address of the legal titleholder as it appears on the latest assessment roll.”
Establishes the statutory requirement that notice must be sent to the address on the latest assessment roll when the legal titleholder remains the same
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRaymond and Selma Schafer purchased a home at 20309 W. Country Club Drive and obtained a tax exemption for 1996. After Selma's death, Raymond executed…
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PER CURIAM.
Raymond and Selma Schafer purchased a home located at 20309 W. Country Club Drive, and applied for tax exemption for the 1996 tax year. Subsequently, Selma passed away and, in January 2000, Raymond executed a Warranty Deed, giving himself a life estate, with a fee simple remainder interest to his son, Ronald Schafer. The Warranty Deed erroneously reflected that the Schafers resided at “2309 W. Country Club Drive # 709”. The Record reflects, and the Schafers admit, that the Schafers did not pay their tax obligations for the 2000 tax year. The Schafers claim, however, that they never received notice of their property tax for the year 2000.
On June 21, 2001, a tax certificate was issued on the Schafers’ property and was purchased by a third party. Thereafter, a Notice of Application for Tax Sale was filed and the property was purchased by Eradio Abreu (“Mr. Abreu”) on December 4, 2003. The Record reflects that all notices of the tax sale were mailed to “2309 W. Country Club Drive.” In January of 2004, Mr. Abreu filed a Complaint to Quiet Title and a Notice of Lis Pendens. After Motions for Summary Judgment were filed by both parties, the trial court entered Final Summary Judgment Quieting Title in favor of Abreu. The Schafers’ Motion for Rehearing was denied and this appeal followed. We reverse.
Section 197.502(4)(a), Florida Statutes, sets forth the tax collector’s responsibility in providing the tax information to the clerk of the court prior to the sale of any property. § 197.502(4)(a), Fla. Stat. (2001). Specifically, section 197.502(4)(a) requires that the tax collector deliver to the clerk of the circuit court the individuals that must be notified prior to the sale of a property by tax deed.
The tax collector shall deliver to the clerk of the circuit court a statement that payment has been made for all outstanding certificates ... and stating that the following persons are to be notified prior to the sale of the property:
(a) Any legal titleholder of record if the address of the owner appears on the record of conveyance of the lands to the owner. However, if the legal titleholder of record is the same as the person to whom the property was assessed on the tax roll for the year in which the property was last assessed, then the notice may only be mailed to the address of the legal titleholder as it appears on the latest assessment roll.
§ 197.502(4)(a), Fla. Stat. (2001)(emphasis added).
In the instant case, Raymond Schafer was the legal titleholder in 1999, the last assessment period before the 2000 tax year. Additionally, the 1999 tax roll listed the mailing address as “20301 W. Country Club Dr. # 729”. Thus, despite the incorrect address on the warranty deed, the clear language of subsection (a) required that notice in the instant case be sent to the Schafers at the address reflected in the 1999 tax roll because the legal titleholder, Raymond Schafer, remained the same. Accordingly, we reverse the Summary Judgment Order and remand with directions to invalidate the tax deed sale.
Reversed and remanded.
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Yorty v. Eradio Abreu, 988 So. 2d 1155 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008)…Miami-Dade County Tax Collector (“Tax Collector”), appeals from the trial court’s denial of the following two motions: (1) a motion for relief from judgment, and (2) a motion to intervene. For the following reasons, we reverse. In Schafer v. Abreu, 905 So. 2d 947 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005) (“Schafer I”), Eradio Abreu (“Abreu”) purchased a tax deed for a property owned by Raymond and Ronald Schafer (“the Schafers”). Subsequent to the purchase of the tax deed, Abreu in 2004 filed an action against the Schafers to quie…
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Turner v. Jordan, 117 F.4th 1289 (11th Cir. 2024)…lus. But Florida courts can and have gone so far as to void tax deed sales. See, e.g., Vosilla, 944 So. 2d at 300–01 (holding that a tax deed sale conducted without adequate notice violated the property owners' due process rights); Schafer v. Abreu, 905 So. 2d 947, 948 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2005) (per curiam) (holding that the county tax collector failed to provide adequate notice under Fla. Stat. § 197.502 and “remand[ing] with directions to invalidate the tax deed sale"); Cape Atl. Landowners Ass'n v. County…