Do you have a potential or active listing in Duval County that you would like to know has Nuisance and Demolition Liens or unpaid Tax Certificates? In some jurisdictions in our areas, specifically in Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, and Atlantic Beach, we have to work either directly with the city or pay for a Municipal Lien Search in order to determine what Nuisance or Demolition liens there may be on a property that needs to be take care of prior to closing. For most of the county, you can find them and any unpaid tax certificates all on one webpage. Here’s how.
Let’s assume that there is a vacant lot you could potentially list off of Marbon Rd. in Mandarin. Because you already followed steps provided in previous Title Tips, you printed out appropriate information from the Property Appraiser’s website and have the last deed in hand – you also know that the RE# is 158180 0020.
Here are the simple steps to follow:
1. Go to http://www.coj.net.
2. Select “Government,” and then under “Constitutional Officers,” select “Tax Collector.”
3. Under “Important Links,” select “Property Tax Search,” and on the next page select “Property Tax Search” again.
4. Enter the RE# given above in the search box, click “search,” and click the RE# at the top of the results, “2015 — 158180-0020.”
5. Right under the Legal Description, you will see, “Nuisance and Demolition Liens.” As with most properties, it states there are none.
6. Continue to scroll down to “Property Tax Bills.” You can see the bill by simply clicking the year, it will also tell you if it was paid. In this case 2013, 14, and 15 have not been paid.
7. Scrolling down again, you will see that under “Unpaid Tax Certificates” each of those years are listed.
As always, more issues may arise in the course of producing a Title Commitment, but this a good start to see what issues the present owner may have. Knowing this, you can help them get things cleared up so when a buyer shows up with a contract, there is a smoother and quicker way to a clear Title.
You can get a PDF of this Title Tip here.
My Agent Greg 