Start from zero: what a county is actually selling, what the property owner owes to get it back, and why the answer changes at the state line.
Four sections: what a tax lien is, where your ownership of one is recorded, the three ways a position ends, and what we charge. That is the whole investment. Below it, the map opens the statutory detail for a particular state — worth reading before you buy there, and not before you understand the above.
Property taxes fund the county. When an owner does not pay, the county is short the money but still has to run.
What it sells is a tax lien certificate in some states, and in others a deed the owner keeps the right to redeem. Either way the buyer advances the county its money owed.
Under rules set by state law, the owner can clear what is owed by paying the taxes back plus a statutory charge on top. How long they have, and whether that time ever runs out, is where the states differ.
The holder receives the redemption value, less applicable fees, and the position closes. If they do not, the position is settled another way — and what it settles into is a payment, not the property.
What you are buying
The token is not the property. It is a position in what the local taxing authority sold to recover unpaid taxes on it — a tax lien certificate in some states, and in others a deed the owner keeps the right to redeem. The owner clears what is owed by paying the taxes back with the statutory charge, and when they do you receive the expected redemption value, less applicable fees, and the token is retired.
If the term ends with no redemption, the original seller may have the option to repurchase or redeem the asset at its then-current redemption value. If that option is not exercised, you may have the right to receive the underlying asset in kind, subject to applicable law and platform terms. Any rights or remedies associated with the underlying asset — foreclosure among them — are governed by applicable state law and the terms specific to that asset, and are not necessarily rights exercisable by a token holder.
Cat 5 Partners, LLC, which operates LienFi, maintains the Books and Records. They are the definitive record of who is recognised as the beneficial owner — the Record Holder — of each position.
The token in your wallet evidences the beneficial ownership recorded there. It is not the certificate or deed itself, and it is not the definitive ownership record.
LienFi Custody Services, LLC generally holds record or legal title to the underlying certificate or deed, for custody and administration. Holding title in the custodian's name does not make the custodian the beneficial owner.
One consequence worth knowing before you move a token: sending it onchain does not by itself transfer the recorded ownership. A transfer becomes effective when the token is presented through the platform, the recipient clears compliance screening, and Cat 5 Partners, LLC records them as the new Record Holder. The full terms are in the Terms and Conditions, section 3.4.
However a position ends, what you receive is a payment. These are the three routes, and they are peers — nothing on this page predicts which one a given lien takes.
At any point the statute allows it, early or late.
You receive the redemption value on that date, less LienFi’s share of your gain, and the position closes.
Where that position’s own terms give the original seller the right to.
The whole position is settled at the platform settlement amount for that position, which its terms define — it may be the redemptive value at the time, or another stated figure.
What that means is set by the state — the panels below say which.
The position is settled under its own terms rather than converted into property: a foreclosure payment of what you paid plus the stated percentage of assessed value, after which the position is retired. It carries no right to take or control the property unless that position’s terms expressly say so.
You can also simply sell the position to someone else on the marketplace before any of this, which is the fourth route out and the only one you control. The full list of resolution events, and what each pays, is in the Terms and Conditions, sections 3.6 to 3.8.
LienFi’s share of your gain at redemption: a percentage of the amount above what you paid, never of your principal. If the lien redeems at or below what you paid, there is no fee.
The redemption fee is read from the chain when a lien redeems
These are the rates configured onchain today. They are versioned settings rather than terms of your position — the redemption rate in particular is read from the chain at the moment a lien redeems, so it is the rate in force then that applies, not the rate showing on the day you buy. Every lien page shows the rate attached to that lien, and shows its figures before fees when the rate cannot be read.
The onchain fee contract accepts any rate up to 100%, so there is no lower cap enforced in code. What is committed is the process: LienFi's terms provide that the fee structure may be changed prospectively by posting an updated fee schedule, publicly and before the relevant transaction where that applies. As of 2026-08-131, the first one ever created.
| When | Paid by | Charge |
|---|---|---|
| You buy a lien | — | Nothing on top of the listing price. That price is the entire amount transferred; network gas is the only other cost. |
| It redeems for more than you paid | You | 10% of the gain — the amount above what you paid, never your principal. |
| It redeems at or below what you paid | — | Nothing. The fee is charged on gain, so there is none to charge. |
| You list a lien for sale | — | Nothing. Listing moves no money. |
| You resell a lien you bought | You, from the proceeds | 2% of the sale price, plus 10% of your gain over what you paid for it. If you sell at or below what you paid, only the 2% applies. |
| LienFi sells a lien for the first time | The seller, from the proceeds | 2% of the sale price, plus 10% of any amount the price sits above the redemptive value. Instead of the row above, not on top of it — a lien nobody has bought yet has no purchase price to measure a gain against. |
Every state writes its own answer to "what does the owner owe, and for how long". This page covers Florida and Texas. Pick one on the map — everything below it is that state's statute, and nothing on this page blends two.
LienFi operates here — pick oneNot yet
Selected state
Interest per month begun, with a guaranteed minimum charge.
ViewingFlorida
A tax certificate: the claim for unpaid taxes on a parcel, sold at a tax sale by the county tax collector and carrying a statutory interest rate on its face value.
The clock starts when the certificate is issued. The bar is the term LienFi prices to, which lands near the point the holder becomes able to act — the statutory date is its own and can fall a little earlier. What it is not is a deadline for the owner: this state sets none.
Interest is charged for each calendar month the term has *begun*, not day by day — so the amount owed steps up on a monthly boundary rather than sliding. Underneath that sits a guaranteed minimum: Florida charges no less than 5% of face value however early the owner pays. Early in the term the monthly interest has not caught up with that floor yet, which is why the first stretch of a Florida payoff is flat.
One made-up lien, priced by the same calculator that values every lien on the marketplace. Illustrative only — not an offer, and not a lien that exists.
| Face value | $25,000 |
|---|---|
| Statutory interest to maturity | $6,250 |
| What the owner pays to redeem | $31,250 |
Florida charges interest from the first day of each month, so what counts is calendar months begun rather than time elapsed. A term opening on 2026-01-01 and redeemed on 2028-01-01 touches 25 of them — 24 whole months plus the month of redemption itself. At 12% a year that is 1% a month across 25 months: 25% of face value, or $6,250. Reading the same term as 2 years of elapsed time instead gives 24% and $6,000 — the figure most people expect, and one month short of the one the statute produces.
The owner’s right to redeem does not end here, and Florida does not set a date where it does: redemption stays open until a tax deed is actually issued, so a late redemption is a normal, supported outcome and simply settles as an expired one. What the two-year mark is instead is the earliest a certificate holder may apply for a tax deed — measured by statute from the April 1 of the year the certificate was issued, which lands a couple of months before the anniversary of a certificate sold at the June sale. Applying starts a clerk’s auction of the property at which the holder is paid out of the proceeds first, and anything above what is owed is held for other lienholders and the former owner. That is a remedy attached to the certificate, not an action open to a token holder. The outer limit is on the certificate rather than on the owner: it is void seven years after the sale.
A payment, on the paths this platform prices for. If the owner redeems — whenever they redeem — the holder receives the redemption value, less LienFi’s share of the gain. If a tax deed application is made instead, the clerk’s sale pays the certificate first, and the holder’s position is settled against those proceeds under LienFi’s Terms. Whatever becomes of the certificate itself, a LienFi position resolves as a payment to the Record Holder rather than as a conveyance — and the term we price to is a term, not a cliff.
Statutory content last reviewed: 2026-09-11. Statutes change, and the summaries on this page are summaries — the sections above are the text that governs.
What newcomers get wrong about Florida
| Rule | Florida | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| What the jurisdiction sells | Florida Tax Certificate | Texas Redeemable Deed |
| Clock starts from | Certificate issue date | Deed recorded date |
| How long the term runs | 24 months | 2 years — homestead or agricultural; 180 days — every other property |
| What that date is | Tax deed application eligibility: approximately 2 years. It is not a deadline for the owner — Florida sets none. | The end of the owner’s statutory right to redeem — the one state here where the term really does close it. |
| What the owner is charged | Interest, per calendar month begun | No interest — a flat premium on the bid (25%, then 50%) |
| Guaranteed minimum | 5% of face value, however early | None |
| Separate penalty | None | None |
| Property class changes the money | No | Yes |
| What the holder ends up with | A payment on the expected paths. | A contractual payment, not the property. |
| Statute cited in our code | Fla. Stat. ch. 197 | Tex. Tax Code § 34.21 |
| Statutory content last reviewed | 2026-09-11 | 2026-09-11 |
Redemptive value, listing type, blended APY, foreclosure eligibility — every term this site uses on a lien, defined in one place.
Open the glossaryEducational only
Nothing here is legal, tax or investment advice, and none of it is an offer. The figures are calculated estimates; the final redemption amount is governed exclusively by state statute, and LienFi makes no warranty that an estimate will match it.
The rules described are the ones this platform applies when it prices a lien. They are a summary, not the statute, and statutes change.
The date the underlying asset becomes eligible for foreclosure under state law. It describes the asset, not an action open to you — tokens are acquired and held until redemption or term end.