There are very few interests that can possibly survive a tax deed. Generally, a valid tax certificate is considered a new or an original deed on the associated land. Thus, barring limited statutory or judicial exceptions, a tax deed extinguishing all other rights, interests, restrictions, and covenants held in the property. This, however, is all subject to the validity of the tax deed. When the tax deed is issued, its validity is completely depends on whether or not all interest parties were rightfully notified.
The statutory exemptions from extinguishment are restrictive covenants that run with the land, equitable servitudes, public utility easements, conservation easements, the common-law easement of necessity, and a lien of record held by a county, municipal governmental unit, a special district, or a community development district. The most common survival issues arise from restrictive covenants, which include the restrictions governed by homeowner associations and condominium associations. The statutes provides an exception to extinguishment of the actual restrictions, but case law currently holds that any liens for past due assessments do not survive. May purchasers of tax deeds are often sent the bill for the prior owners past due assessments, but as case law holds, the tax deed owner is not liable for these past debts. This is quite contrary to the situation of purchasing a property at a standard foreclosure sale, where the new owner is likely liable for these past due assessments.