How to Redeem Property Before a Pinellas Tax Deed Sale

Here is the single most important sentence in this article: you can stop a Pinellas tax deed sale by paying the full redemption amount to the Tax Collector before the sale date. (Florida Statutes §197.472 technically allows redemption until the tax deed is issued, but the Tax Collector's rule is "any time before the sale" — treat sale day as the deadline and confirm the exact cut-off with them the day you call.) The question is not whether you can redeem. It's whether the numbers and the timing work for you.

Whether you are saving a home you have lived in for 30 years, stabilizing an inherited property, or catching up a rental, the steps are the same.

Who can redeem

Under Florida law, any person with a legal interest in the property can redeem before the tax deed sale. That includes:

• The titled owner of record.
• Any heir who has inherited an interest, even if probate is still open.
• A mortgage lender, HOA, or other lienholder.
• In some cases, a family member with power of attorney.

You do not need permission from the certificate holder or the law firm that filed the application. You pay the Tax Collector directly.

Step one: request the redemption amount

The first thing to understand is that you cannot just look up the redemption number online. It changes daily because of interest accruing on the certificates and costs being added by the Clerk. You need a payoff — sometimes called a redemption statement — from the Pinellas County Tax Collector.

In Pinellas, you can request this by:

• Calling the Tax Collector's office directly and asking for the redemption amount on your parcel.
• Walking into one of the Tax Collector's offices with your parcel ID.
• In some cases, requesting it in writing or through a title company if you are preparing a sale.

Ask for the payoff good through a specific date — typically the date you plan to pay. Interest is calculated daily, so the number will be slightly different on a Monday than on a Thursday.

Step two: understand what's in the number

The redemption amount typically includes:

• The face value of every outstanding tax certificate on the property.
• Interest accrued on each certificate, computed daily.
• Any current-year taxes that became due during the process.
• The Tax Collector's and Clerk's administrative fees.
• The title search cost ordered by the Clerk.
• The applicant's costs of bringing the property to sale — the property information (title) report, application fee, Clerk's statutory fee, recording, certified mail, Sheriff service and newspaper advertising — plus 1.5% monthly interest from the application (§197.502(2), §197.542(1)). The Clerk's case file at taxdeedsales.mypinellasclerk.gov itemizes every line.

Ask for an itemized breakdown. You are entitled to see what you are paying for.

Step three: pay — the right way

Redemption payments in Pinellas County must be made to the Tax Collector, not the Clerk, and not the law firm that filed the tax deed application. Acceptable forms of payment are narrow:

• Wire transfer — the cleanest method for large amounts (wiring instructions and help: [email protected]).
• Certified funds — a cashier's check payable to the Pinellas County Tax Collector, delivered in person.
• Cash — accepted in person; not practical for large redemptions.

The Tax Collector's published rule for tax deed payments: personal checks and credit cards are not accepted. Plan ahead — if your bank needs a day to issue a cashier's check or release a wire, that is a day you need to have.

Step four: confirm the redemption is recorded

Once you pay, the Tax Collector forwards a redemption notice to the Clerk and the sale is canceled. Ask for a paid receipt. Keep it. Some homeowners also follow up with a call to the Clerk a day or two later to confirm the sale was removed from the calendar.

The certificate holder gets their original investment back, plus the interest that was bid at the certificate auction. They are not unhappy — they made their money. The property stays in your name.

The timing reality

Pinellas sales open at 11:00 AM ET on sale day. The Tax Collector has to receive and process your payment before the sale for the redemption to stop it — a wire initiated on the morning of the auction may not credit in time. Do not leave redemption to sale day.

Our rule of thumb: pay at least two business days before the sale date. This gives cashier's checks time to clear and wires time to settle, and it builds in cushion for anything weird that comes up (a public holiday, a system outage, a mistyped account number).

If you absolutely cannot redeem in time

If the redemption number is bigger than the cash you can assemble, a sale to a buyer whose funds pay the redemption before the sale date accomplishes the same thing — the taxes are paid, the case is cancelled, and you receive the balance of the price at closing. One thing to be clear about: signing a purchase contract does not stop the auction. Only cleared funds at the Tax Collector do. Any buyer who tells you "we're under contract, so you're safe" without paying the redemption first is wrong. This is why our own process pays the taxes first, then closes.

Things that often surprise homeowners

Partial redemptions are not a thing

You cannot pay half the redemption amount and have the sale postponed. It's full payoff or nothing. Some homeowners try to hand the Tax Collector a partial payment and leave — it won't stop the sale.

Paying off the oldest certificate alone is not enough

If there are multiple tax certificates on the property from different years, redemption means paying off all of them plus the application costs. Paying one year doesn't clear the file.

You can redeem even after the application was filed

A lot of homeowners assume that once the certified letter arrives, it's too late. It isn't. Redemption is available until the sale — the number is just bigger because the application costs are now included.

Redeem or sell?

If you have the cash and want the house, redeem — you don't need us for that. If the property needs more work than it is worth to you, or the payoff is out of reach, a sale that pays the taxes first can leave you with more than redeeming would. Either way, you decide; we'll show you both numbers.

This article is general education about Florida tax redemption. Contact the Pinellas County Tax Collector for the exact payoff on a specific parcel, and consult an attorney for legal advice specific to your situation.

AL Cakici · Owner, HomeSellerCashOffer (Tampete Homes LLC)

AL buys houses in Pinellas County for his own account and has personally purchased and assisted with 100+ transactions over 10+ years across the country. He is not an attorney; this article is general information drawn from the Florida Statutes and county sources linked in the text, not legal advice. Facts checked against those sources on September 5, 2026.