YES - BUT - There is no collecting the interest until someone buys the tax deed auction, or you recoup the investment by foreclosing and taking the property if no other bidders win.

In Florida, the 2-year mark does not stop the interest. It is the point when the certificate holder becomes eligible to apply for a tax deed. If the owner does not redeem and you do not apply for a tax deed, the certificate can continue earning interest at your certificate’s bid rate, but only until the certificate expires. Under Fla. Stat. 197.482, a tax certificate generally expires 7 years after issuance if no tax deed application has been filed and no applicable legal or administrative proceeding, such as bankruptcy, has existed of record. So in practical terms, after the 2-year waiting period, you may have up to about 5 more years before the certificate is canceled. Do not wait past the 7-year deadline if you intend to protect your investment.

Holding a Florida tax certificate is not like receiving monthly interest payments. You do not “collect” the interest as it accrues. You get paid when the certificate is redeemed by the owner or another party, or when a tax deed application leads to a tax deed sale and the sale proceeds are distributed. If nobody redeems after the 2-year waiting period, the certificate holder can apply for a tax deed sale. If a third-party bidder buys the property at the tax deed sale, the certificate holder is paid from the sale proceeds. If there are no higher bidders, the property may be struck off to the certificate holder, but the certificate holder may still have to pay required amounts/costs before the tax deed is issued. This is not really “foreclosing” in the mortgage sense; in Florida it is a statutory tax deed process.