Often times a property will sell for above the mere taxes due. The Collector calls this a "surplus."

The statute says, "The treasurer shall place such [surplus] to the credit of the school fund of the county, to be held in trust for the term of three years for the owner or owners or their legal representatives...

Are they talking about the old owner or the new owner?

At first, I thought it meant the old owner, but that wouldn't make sense to me. If he came in to redeem, he would have to pay the taxes, plus the surplus that I bid up.

Let me know what you all think.

As described in the statute, the surplus would go to the previous owner. There are investing strategies that take advantage of this strategy. Those will be talked about in later posts.