The Louisiana Association
of
Tax Administrators
ADVALOREM TAX GUIDE
Publication Date
Revised 9/07/2004
VOLUME II
CONTENTS
PART THREE AD VALOREM TAX
AD VALOREM TAX REGULATIONS - TITLE 47
CHAPTER FOUR - PAYMENT & COLLECTIONS
1
PART II - PAYMENT & COLLECTION PROCEDURES
CHAPTER FIVE
PART I - SALES
PART II - REDEMPTIONS
PART III - TAX & SALES AND REDEMPTIONS FOR 1974 & SUBSEQUENT YRS.
14
34
42
AD VALOREM TAX REGULAT1ONS - TITLE 33
CHAPTER SIX - TAXATION & FISCAL AFFAIRS
CHAPTER THIRTEEN -A - SALE OF ABANDONED PROPERTY
CHAPTER THIRTEEN -B - DONATION OF ABANDONED OR BLIGHTED
HOUSING PROPERTY
CHAPTER THIRTEEN -C - SALE OF ADJUDICATED VACANT LOTS;
ADJOINING PROPERTY OWNERS
49
64
68
73
APPENDIX C
AD VALOREM TAXES
Article 7, Section 25, Louisiana Constitutions of 1974
78
Definitions-R.S. 47:1702
80
Basic Ad Valorem Tax Collection Steps - Movable Property
82
Basic Ad Valorem Tax Collection Steps - Immovable Property
83
Topical Index
85
Part III
Introduction
Ad Valorem Tax
Chapter 4 of this publication contains the current text of
R.S. 47:2101 - 2114.1 Chapter 5 contains the current text of R.S.47:2171-2262.
Chapter 6 contains the current text of R.S. 33:2861 thru 2881; R.S. 33:2891.1
thru 33:2891.5, as amended. Chapters 13-A-C contains current text of
R.S. 33:4720.11 thru 33:4720.49. Where appropriate, explanatory comments
are inserted in italics for further clarification or edification. As with other parts
of this manual, it is essential for the reader to understand that the tax collector in
a particular taxing jurisdiction may develop and implement rules and regulations
regarding collection methods and procedures in that taxing jurisdiction, and
should be consulted regarding any particular issue regarding taxes due.
In addition, it should be noted that the State of Louisiana no longer
levies or collects ad valorem taxes, however, many of the statutes have not
been changed and the wording is obsolete. In general, the parish and/or
municipality may be substituted where the State is referenced in these
regulations.
Part III
Ad Valorem Taxes
Scope
I. Chapters Four & Five - Includes the following regulations from Title 47.
Title 47 "Revenue and Taxation"
Subtitle III "Provisions Relating to Ad Valorem Taxes"
Chapter 4 "Payment and Collection"
Part II "Payment and Collection Procedures"
(47:2101-2114)
Chapter 5 "Tax Sales and Redemptions"
Part I "Sales" (47:2171-2194)
Part II "Redemptions" (47:2221-2230)
Part III "Tax Sales and Redemptions of Immovable Property
Adjudicated for taxes for 1974 and Subsequent
years"
(47:2251-2262)
II. Chapter Six - Includes the following regulations from Title 33.
Title 33 "Municipalities and parishes"
Chapter 6 "Taxation and Fiscal Affairs"
Part II "Levy and Collection of Taxes" Subpart E "Property Adjudicated to
Municipality" (33:2861-2881)
Subpart F “Property Adjudicated more than Five years
to Parish or Municipality” (33:2891.1 - 2891.5)
Chapter 13-A Sale of Abandoned Property (33:4720.11-4720.19)
Chapter 13-B Donation of Abandoned or Blighted Housing Property
(33:4720.25-4720.33)
Chapter 13-C Sale of Adjudicated Vacant Lots; Adjoining
Landowners (33:4720.41-4720.49)
AD VALOREM TAX REGULATIONS
LOUISIANA REVISED STATUTES TITLE 47
CHAPTER 4
PAYMENT & COLLECTION
PAYMENT AND COLLECTION PROCEDURES
R.S. 47:2101. Time for payment; notice when due
A. (1) All taxes shall be collected in the calendar year in which the assessment thereof is made,
and they shall be designated as the "taxes for the year _", accordingly as they are collectible,
and the taxes assessed in each year shall be due in that calendar year as soon as the tax roll is
filed in the office of the recorder of mortgages, except taxes on movable property in the event
of a bulk sale under the provisions of the Bulk Sales Law', and they shall be paid on or before
the thirty-first day of December in each respective year in order to avoid the notice,
advertisement, and sale required by Article VII, Section 25 of the Louisiana Constitution. In
the event of a bulk sale of movable property under the provisions of the Bulk Sales Law, all
taxes due on movable property shall be due ten days prior to completion of the transfer or the
payment of any consideration therefor and shall be payable upon completion of the bulk sale.
(2) No forced collection of taxes on movable property shall be made before the first day of
February of the succeeding year unless the collector has good reason to believe that the state,
parish, or municipal corporation will lose the collection.
(3) The interest on all ad valorem taxes, whether levied on movable or immovable property,
which are delinquent shall begin on the thirty-first day of December of each and every year
and shall bear interest from December thirty-first of such year until paid, at the rate of one
percent per month or any part thereof from. In the event of an erroneous assessment and
adjustment by the tax commission, the taxpayer shall have fifteen days from receipt of notice
of the revised assessment in which to pay the adjusted amount without interest penalty. If the
address provided by the tax assessor on the tax roll proves to be incorrect and the tax debtor
does not receive a timely notice, the tax collector may extend to the debtor a fifteen-day notice
in which to pay without interest penalty.
Interest shall not be charged when the payment was mailed on or before the due date as
evidenced by proof of mailing or postmark.
B. (1) Immediately following the filing of the tax roll by the assessor in each calendar year, the
tax collector with whom such tax roll is filed shall mail a notice in addition to the notices
required elsewhere in this Title, by postcard or letter, to each tax debtor listed on the tax roll at
the address shown on such roll. This notice shall disclose the total amount of taxes due by the
tax debtor for the current year, the ward in which the property taxed is located, and the
number of the assessment.
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Ad Valorem Tax
(2) In addition to the notice to the tax debtor, the tax collector shall also send a notice to each person
holding a properly recorded mortgage on immovable property if such mortgagee has notified the tax
collector of such recorded mortgage and has requested the notice of taxes due. If the mortgagee has
designated another person to receive the notice, the tax collector shall send a notice of taxes due to that
person. The notification by the mortgagee to the tax collector shall state the legal description of the
immovable property and the name of the record owner. The mortgagee requesting notice shall pay a
reasonable sum to the sheriff to defray the cost of providing the notice. The notification by the
mortgagee to the tax collector shall be renewed annually. The notice to the mortgagee may be in the
form of a computer printout.
C. The notice shall request the tax debtor to return the notice to the tax collector with remittance, and
shall remind the tax debtor of the date that taxes become delinquent following issuance of such notice
and that interest will accrue on the taxes from the date the taxes become delinquent. Interest shall
accrue at the rate prescribed by law, which rate, or a brief description of the manner in which the rate
is calculated, shall be stated in the notice.
D. Failure of the collector to send this notice or failure of the taxpayer assessed to receive the notice shall
not affect any sale for taxes of any of the property assessed upon which the taxes are not paid.
E. The provisions of this Section requiring a notice to the taxpayer shall in no way affect and shall not be
held to be inconsistent or in conflict with the provisions of R.S. 47:2171, 47:2180, 47:2181, 47:2182,
or 47:2189, or any other Section relating to notice to tax debtors.
: R.S. 47.2101(A) 3. Most jurisdictions calculate interest beginning January l st. rather than
December 31. Some jurisdiction require interest to be paid from December 31 on any reduced amount, but
give the taxpayer 15 days to pay any increased amount without interest.
: R.S. 47.2101(D). Court cases have held that taxing jurisdictions must take "reasonable steps" to
notify properly owners and/or mortgage holders of taxes due.
R.S. 47:2101.1 Payment requirements
All liens imposed upon immovable property under R.S. 13:2575, R.S.33:1236, 4752, 4753, 4754,
4766, 5062, and 5062.1 shall be included in the ad valorem tax bill and shall be paid along with such taxes.
Failure to pay the liens shall cause the immovable property to be subject to the same provisions of law as
govern tax sales of immovable property.
R.S. 47:2102. Payment of taxes on property administered by fiduciaries
All receivers, referees, trustees, or other officers appointed by any court, both state and federal,
to administer or conduct any business in this state, or liquidators, whether judicial or extra judicial, shall be
subject to all state and local taxes applicable to such business, the same as if such business were conducted by
an individual or corporation, and before deducting or paying any salaries, fees or compensation to themselves
or to any employees or agents, they shall pay all taxes owed by the
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
individual, partnership, association or corporation, for whom they act, to the state or its subdivisions
or municipalities. The receivers, referees, trustees or liquidators, upon assuming their official duties,
shall immediately ascertain from the proper authority the amount of taxes owed by the individual,
partnership, association or corporation, whose estate they are administering, and in the event of their
failure to pay all such taxes, shall be personally responsible for the unpaid taxes, to the extent of the
inventoried value of the estate.
R.S. 47:2102. This provision is not applicable to bankruptcy trustees.
R.S. 47:2103. Manner of payment; tax collector to give receipt
All taxes assessed under this Sub-title may be paid in any money which at that times is
legal tender for private debts of the same amount under the laws of the United States, and the tax
collectors are authorized and required to receive in payment of taxes due the respective funds of each
year, all valid warrants of the state, which may have been drawn as directed by law against such
funds. The tax collectors are required to give a receipt to the person from whom they shall receive
any warrant for taxes and shall furnish the auditor with a sworn statement of the persons who have
thus paid their taxes, and the amount received from each. The auditor shall include such statement in
his report. No collector shall receive or turn into the treasury any other warrants than those included
in the sworn statement, and which have actually been received by him in payment of taxes by the
taxpayers, and any tax collector violating the provisions of this Section shall be deemed guilty of a
crime, and on conviction shall be punished by imprisonment at hard labor for not less than one year
nor more than five years. No parish or municipality shall receive for parish or municipal taxes any
bond, coupons, or warrants, approved accounts, or any evidence of indebtedness, except for the year
in which indebtedness was created except juror and witness certificates which the parishes are
authorized to receive for taxes.
Whenever taxes are paid in full, the tax collector shall give his tax receipt therefor, and shall
write in proper columns on the tax rolls in his own office the word "paid," and number and date of
receipt as per stub book. The tax receipt shall be in the form prescribed by the tax commissions.
The state tax collector for the city of New Orleans, in conjunction with the state auditor and
the chairman of the tax commission, is authorized and directed, as the majority of such three officers
may decide, either to have all tax bills or receipts for taxes assessed to each owner of real and
personal property in the city of New Orleans made up annually in advance of the time for collection
under the state tax collector's own direction, or to let out a contract to make up such tax bills in
advance of collection to the lowest bidder. The cost thereof shall be paid by the state tax collector
out of the appropriation made by the legislature for the conduct and operation of his office.
3
Ad Valorem Tax
The tax collector shall make quarterly statements of the delinquents who have paid their taxes,
the amount paid, and the year for which they are paid, and such statements shall be sworn to by the
tax collector and sent to the auditor.
The clerks and ex-officio recorders and the recorder of mortgages for the parish of Orleans
respectively, shall, on the application of any party in interest who has paid his taxes in full, cancel
and erase all inscriptions of tax privileges and tax mortgages on the payment of ten cents for each
cancellation; provided, that if the application be made by the taxpayer, or by any party in interest
who has paid the taxes before they become delinquent, the cancellation shall be free to him.
R.S. 47:2103. Instructions regarding the "auditor" in this provision are no longer pertinent.
R.S. 47:2104. Register of conveyances for parish of Orleans to furnish copy of reports to state
tax collector
The register of conveyances for the parish of Orleans shall furnish to the state tax collector for
the city of New Orleans, a duplicate or copy of his report made to the board of assessors in the city of
New Orleans, of each and every sale and other conveyance registered in his office, which report of
transfer shall be noted on the books of the state tax collector and all notices for delinquent taxes
thereafter served shall be served on the person or persons, corporation or corporations thus shown to
be the owner of the property.
R.S. 47:2105. Payment by other than tax debtor
The state tax collectors on behalf of the state and parish authorities and the tax collectors of the
municipal authorities of the various towns and city governments and political subdivisions
throughout the state are authorized to receive payment from any person other than the person in
which name the property has been assessed, of any taxes demandable by the state, parish, municipal
corporation, or other political subdivisions, after the date upon which such tax becomes delinquent,
and to subrogate the person paying the same to all rights, liens, and privileges of the state, parish, or
municipal corporation or political subdivision, incident to or growing out of the tax and its
recordation in the office required by law; provided, that when such payment is sought to be made by
any person not holding a bond or note secured by a mortgage or privilege upon the taxed property,
the written consent thereto of the taxpayer must be filed with the tax collector. The payment herein
contemplated to be made by a person other than the tax debtor shall not be construed or held to be a
payment or satisfaction of the tax. When the taxes have been paid by persons other than the persons
in whose name the property is assessed, it shall be the duty of the tax collector to note this fact in
writing upon his roll, and at the same time to make a notation in writing of the name and address of
the person by whom the taxes were paid;
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
and if such person (or successive assignees) shall assign his interest to another, the name and address
of such assignee, upon the filing with him of written evidence of such assignment. The tax collector,
or his duly authorized deputy, shall deliver to the person paying such taxes a tax receipt or tax bill
therefor, in the form now or hereafter prescribed by law and shall attach thereto a certificate of
transfer and subrogation substantially in the following form:
CERTIFICATE OF SUBROGATION
The tax due the
(taxing district) for the year
, as evidenced by the attached tax receipt
No.
, together with all accrued interest and costs, to wit, the sum of
$
, having been this day paid to me by the below named assignee, and the tax debtor
named in said receipt having in writing consented hereto, the undersigned, being the officer charged
by law with the duty of collecting said tax, does hereby transfer and assign to
, assignee, and
does hereby subrogate said assignee to all of the rights, liens and privileges of said
(taxing district) for the collection and enforcement of said tax as the law provides.
I further certify that the within assignment and subrogation has been noted by me upon the tax rolls
and records as required by law.
This certificate may be transferred or hypothecated by endorsement hereon.
Thus done this
day of
,
, at
, Louisiana.
(Taxing district)
Such certificate shall be prima facie evidence of all facts recited therein. A duplicate certificate, so
marked, shall be issued by the sheriff or tax collector upon satisfactory proof of the loss or
destruction of the original. If for any reason the certificate issued shall be invalid in law, the holder
of the certificate shall be entitled to be reimbursed by the taxing authority which has received the
payment. The tax debtor who shall give the written consent to the tax payment by another shall be
estopped, together with his heirs and assigns, from asserting the irregularity of invalidity of such tax
or of any of the proceedings relating thereto to the time of such payment, and shall be held to have
ratified and confirmed the same.
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Ad Valorem Tax
In order to exercise the rights of subrogation, the person holding such certificate, or his registered
assignee, shall make request in writing to the tax collector to sell for his account the taxed property
for the amount of the tax so paid by him, with interest and costs, and the tax collector shall proceed
at once to so sell in the name of the taxing authority, for the benefit of the assignee, the taxed
property with the formalities, notices and advertisement required by law for tax sales, in the same
manner as if such certificate of subrogation had not been issued; provided, that the certificate holder,
so requesting the sale to be made, shall indemnify the tax collector against all proper costs, charges
and expenses. In the event of a sale by the tax collector, he shall execute a deed to the purchaser
(who may be the certificate holder) in the form provided by law. Whenever the subrogee requires the
tax collector to proceed to enforce payment of the tax for his account, by advertisement and sale of
the property, the tax collector shall procure from the proper officer a mortgage certificate upon the
property to be sold and send each registered mortgagee, vendor's lien or privilege holder, as may be
shown by such mortgage certificate, a written notice of the impending sale and the date thereof, such
notice to be mailed not less than ten days before the publication of the first advertisement. Notice
shall be sent by registered mail with a request for a return receipt, to the address of each registered
mortgagee, vendor's lien or privilege holder, if known to the tax collector; otherwise, it shall be
sufficient that the notice be sent to each in care of the officer before whom the recorded mortgage or
other instrument was passed or acknowledged. The tax collector shall be entitled to collect a fee of
fifty cents for each notice sent, which, together with the cost of the mortgage certificate, shall make
part of the amount for which the sale shall be made. The tax debtor may at any time, prior to the sale
for taxes of the taxed property, pay to the holder of the certificate the amount thereof (with all lawful
costs, charges and interest), and thereupon be entitled to have such certificate delivered to him and
upon its presentation and delivery to the tax collector, to have the notation of the subrogation
imported thereby canceled. In such case, the tax debtor shall be entitled to a certificate from the tax
collector showing the fact of such cancellation.
In the alternative the tax debtor may notify the tax collector that he intends to make payment to
him of the taxes for which the subrogation has been given whereupon the tax collector shall at once
notify the last registered assignee, by registered mail, of such intention of the tax debtor, and unless
the payment be made within ten days to the holder of the certificate of subrogation, the tax debtor
shall have the right to pay to the tax collector for account of the holder of the certificate of
subrogation the amount called for by the certificate of subrogation (including all lawful costs,
charges and interest), and to have the tax marked "paid and satisfied" on the tax collector's rolls and
records. After date of payment made as aforesaid, the holder of the certificate of subrogation shall
look only to the amount so paid to the tax collector for the satisfaction of the certificate of
subrogation.
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
The fees and charges of the tax collector for all services the same as or similar to those required
by law to be performed, shall be as fixed by law. The tax collector shall be entitled to a fee of
twenty-five cents (25 cents) each, (1) for making upon his rolls each notation of subrogation and of
payment of taxes by another than the owner of the property taxed, and (2) for noting the cancellation
thereof and issuing a certificate of cancellation; and shall be entitled to a fee of fifty cents (50 cents),
(1) for the issuance and execution of the certificate of subrogation and (2) for giving the notice
required by his Section, including postage, all of which fees and charges shall make part of the
amount for which the sale shall be made.
As used in this Section, the term "taxes" shall include assessments for paving recorded against
property; and the term "tax collector," or any similar expression, shall denote the officer charged by
law with the collection and enforcement of taxes for the State, the parishes, municipalities, or any
other political subdivision of the State.
The remedies for the collection of taxes and the sale of taxed property as provided in this Section
shall be in addition to and not exclusive of other remedies provided.
R.S. 47:2106. Deferment of tax payments
Any delinquent ad valorem tax due to the state or to any political subdivisions thereof may be
paid to such taxing authority in installments, and interest at the rate fixed by law shall be collected on
each installment separately at the time of the payment of such installment, and no further interest
shall thereafter be collected on the amount of such installment payment; provided nothing contained
in this Section shall prevent the sale of the property for delinquent taxes, as provided by law. Where
installments have been collected on any tax, the tax sale shall be for the amount of the unpaid
balance of the tax.
Any political subdivision of the state, through its governing body, when an emergency has been
declared to exist by resolution or ordinance adopted by such governing body, shall be authorized and
empowered to reduce the interest charge or penalties on ad valorem taxes due to the political
subdivision; but in no event shall the rate of interest be reduced to less than six per centum (6%), and
no reduction inpenalties shall exceed fifty per centum (50%) of the amount of the penalty.
In case of overflow, general conflagration, general destruction of crops, or other public calamity,
in any parish or any political subdivision therein, or of which the parish is a part, rendering
impracticable the forcible collection of taxes therein, there shall be no collection of taxes on lands or
other property affected during the year of the calamity (or the proceeding year when the payment of
such taxes for the proceeding year is affected by the calamity), but the collection of taxes shall be
postponed in accordance with the following procedure:
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Ad Valorem Tax
The owner wishing to avail himself of the provisions of this Section shall make a sworn
statement in triplicate, on or before December 31st of the year in which the taxes are assessed, that
his property has been or is overflowed, or is or has been otherwise injured or destroyed, giving the
description of his property as assessed, and that by reason thereof, the forcible collection of the taxes
of the year during which the injury occurred, or the preceding year, would be oppressive, and that he
is unable to pay the same without a sacrifice of his property. Each copy of the statement shall be
signed and sworn to by the taxpayer claiming the benefit of this Section; one copy of the statement
shall be filed with the officer charged with the collection of taxes, one filed in the office of the state
auditor, and one shall be filed in the office of the recorder of mortgages of the parish in which the
property is located. Thereupon, the owner shall
be relieved from the payment of taxes for the year in which he claims a postponement. The filing
shall operate as a first lien and privilege, and the statement shall be preserved in book form and duly
indexed. The taxes thus postponed shall be divided into ten equal parts and one part shall be
assessed on the immovable property affected and described in the sworn statement for each year for
ten subsequent years, or until the whole of the postponed tax is paid; provided, that when the tax
debtor is assessed with movables only, the postponed taxes shall be assessed against the tax debtor in
this manner. All of the postponed taxes may be paid at any time, and the lien canceled. No
installment of such tax, if paid at any postponed maturity, shall bear either costs or penalties when so
collected, but shall bear interest at the rate of six per centum (6%) per annum from the thirty-first day
of December of the year in which they were originally due until paid. The tax collector shall make a
separate statement and list of all persons claiming the benefits of this Section, together with the
respective amount of their taxes, and the property upon which the taxes are due, and shall deliver
over one copy of the same to the assessor of the parish, who will assess in each subsequent year upon
the respective immovable properties therein described a one-tenth part of the taxes referred to in the
respective triplicate sworn statements and thus postponed, until all of said taxes have been assessed,
and the respective immovable properties shall be liable for the respective parts of the postponed
taxes. In case the list shows that a tax debtor owns movables only, the postponed taxes shall be
assessed against the debtor in this manner. The statement thus prepared by the tax collector shall be
prepared in duplicate, sworn to, and one copy delivered to the state auditor.
The deferred portion of the taxes herein provided for shall be annually levied and assessed, and
carried upon the assessment roll and collected in the manner and by the processes provided in the
case of ordinary tax collections, and separately accounted for by the tax collector and remitted to the
State Treasurer, who shall credit the amount thereof to the parish making the remittance, and shall
turn such amount into the general fund.
R.S. 47:2107. Suits for collections; City of New Orleans
The appropriate officer of the city of New Orleans whose duty it is to receive and collect
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
ad valorem taxes shall have authority to bring suits for taxes on capital or personal property in a
court of competent jurisdiction where the amount involved does not exceed one hundred dollars.
R.S. 47:2108. Refund of taxes erroneously paid
A. Authority of board of tax appeals to received and consider claim. Any person who has a
claim against the state for ad valorem taxes erroneously paid into the state treasury may present
such claim to the board of tax appeals in such form and together with such proofs as the board
may require by its rules and regulations. The board shall duly examine into the justice, merits and
corrections of each such claim presented to it, and shall officially pass thereon.
B. Authority of the board to conduct investigations. The board is authorized to make such
examination and investigation as it may deem necessary to determine the correctness of any
claim presented; and for that purpose, the board is authorized to employ any expert accountant or
clerical assistants that might be necessary. The board may appoint an agent to conduct any
investigation, in Louisiana or elsewhere, that may be found necessary in discovering the facts in
connection with any claim. The board is authorized to require the claimant to present for its
inspection all books, papers, documents, receipts, etc., that may have a bearing upon the true
facts in connection with any claim presented; and the burden of proof shall always rest with the
person presenting any claim against the state for any purpose whatsoever. The board is further
authorized to call upon any department or official of the state or any institution thereof or any
citizen to make available to the board any and all information, documents, receipts and papers
that will aid it in discovering the correctness and justice of any demand or claim that might be
presented to it against the state.
C. Payment of approved claims. If the claim is approved and it should be an amount not exceeding
one thousand dollars, the chairman of the board shall issue a warrant upon the State Treasurer,
for the amount for which the same is approved, stating in said warrant the amount, purposes, and
reasons for which the same is drawn. If the claim shall amount to more than one thousand
dollars and is approved by said board, the chairman giving all the facts and circumstances in
connection therewith, shall report the same to the next session of the legislature for its
consideration. Provided, that where the claim accrues to more than one person, as for example,
the heirs and legatees of another, and the claim is determined by the board to be properly due and
owing, payment thereof to the party or parties asserting the same before the board shall not be
denied because of the failure or refusal of others to join in and assert such claim, but in such
event only the portion due such claimant or claimants shall be paid and then only if the amount to
be paid to each such claimant does not exceed one thousand dollars.
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Ad Valorem Tax
D. Appropriations for payment of claims. At each regular session of the legislature, an amount
shall be appropriated for the purpose of paying any and all claims that might be approved in
accordance with the provisions of this section, during the ensuing biennial period, and which
may be drawn against for the purpose of paying claims that might be duly approved by the board.
E. Legislature not to consider claims not first presented to board. The Legislature shall not
approve or consider any claim against the state for ad valorem taxes erroneously paid into the
State treasure, unless the same shall have been first presented to and considered by the board of
tax appeals, and its report thereon filed with said claim or demand against the state.
F. No appeal from Action of Board. An action of the board rejecting or refusing to approve any
claim under this subchapter may not be appealed to the courts. However, nothing contained in
this subchapter shall deny a claimant whose claim has been rejected by the board the right to
petition the legislature for permission to sue on the claim in a court of proper jurisdiction.
R.S. 47.2108. Provision is no longer pertinent as the state no longer collects Ad Valorem taxes. (See
47:2108.1 below)
R.S. 47:2108.1. Refund of taxes erroneously paid; political subdivisions
A. Any person who has a claim against a political subdivision for ad valorem taxes erroneously paid
into the funds of that political subdivision may present such claim to the Louisiana Tax
Commission within three years of the date of such payment, in such form and together with such
proofs as the tax commission may require by its rules and regulations. The tax commission shall
consult with the assessor of the parish in which the property which is the subject of the claim is
located and, after that assessor advises the tax commission that a refund is due the claimant, the
tax commission shall duly examine the merits and correctness of each such claim presented to it,
and shall make a determination thereon within thirty days of receipt of the claim. The tax
commission is hereby empowered with all authority to conduct such examination and
investigation as it may deem necessary to determine the correctness of any claim presented as is
conferred in R.S. 47:2108(B), relative to such claim against the state.
B. If the claim is approved, the tax commission shall authorize and direct the collector,
when applicable, to correct the assessment on the roll on file in his office and shall authorize and
direct, when applicable, the recorder of mortgages to change the inscription of the tax mortgage.
The tax commission shall also authorize and direct the refund and repayment of those taxes
found to be erroneously paid as provided in this Section. Provided that where the claim accrues
to more than one person, as for example, the heirs and legatees of another, and the claim is
determined by the tax commission to be properly due and owed, payment thereof to the party or
parties asserting the same shall not be denied because of the failure or refusal of others to join in
and assert the claim, but in such event only the portion due such claimant or claimants shall be
paid.
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
C. The collector of ad valorem taxes in each parish shall, upon receipt of notice from the tax
commission that a particular refund or repayment is owed shall do one of the following:
(1) If the claim is made for taxes erroneously paid on property which is or could be homestead
exempt, the collector shall immediately notify the affected tax recipient bodies to remit to him
within thirty days their pro rata share of the refund or repayment. Upon receipt of those funds
from the tax-recipient bodies, the collector shall have an additional thirty days to remit the
payment in full to the taxpayer. Failure by any tax recipient body or the collector to timely remit
such monies shall cause interest at the legal rate to accrue in favor of the taxpayer to be paid by
the political subdivision failing to so timely remit; or
(2) If the claim is made for taxes erroneously paid on property which would not qualify for a
homestead exemption, the collector shall note and record the amount of the refund or repayment
owed and shall have full responsibility to insure that such amount shall operate as a credit against
future ad valorem tax liability of that property. No ad valorem taxes shall be due or collected on
such property until such time as the collector certifies that a sufficient amount of taxes assessed
have been waived to satisfy the refund or repayment ordered by the tax commission. No interest
shall accrue or be due on any such refund or repayment; or
(3) If the claim is made in a parish which has established an alternative procedure for providing
for refunds of ad valorem taxes erroneously paid as authorized by this Section, and if that
alternative procedure has been submitted to and approved by the tax commission, such procedure
may be utilized in lieu of the provisions of Paragraphs (1) and (2) herein.
D. An action of the assessor or of the tax commission rejecting or refusing to approve any claim
made under the provisions of this Section may be appealed to the district court having prior
jurisdiction where the property which is the subject of the claim is located by means of ordinary
proceedings.
R.S. 47:2109. Compromise of tax claims on property adjudicated to the state
The auditor shall have full power and authority to compromise all claims of the state for taxes
due on property adjudicated to the state by remission of all interest and costs, conditional upon
payment by the owner of the property of all taxes due; provided that this paragraph shall apply only
to properties of the value of one thousand dollars and less, and shall not apply to taxes with respect
to which the tax privilege or mortgage has not prescribed.
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Ad Valorem Tax
R.S. 47:2110. Suit to recover taxes paid under protest
A. (1) No court of this state shall issue any process whatsoever to restrain or render any decision
that shall have the effect of impeding the collection of an ad valorem tax imposed by the state, or
by any political subdivision thereof, under authority granted to it by the legislature or by the
constitution.
(2)(a) Any person resisting the payment of any amount of tax due or the enforcement of any
provision of the tax law in relation thereto, shall timely pay the amount due to the officer
designated by law for the collection of such tax and shall give him, the parish or district assessor,
and the Louisiana Tax Commission written notice at the time of payment of his intention to file
suit for the recovery of such tax. Upon receipt of such notice, the amount so paid shall be
segregated and held by the officer for a period of thirty days. If a suit is timely filed contesting
the correctness of the assessment pursuant to R.S.47:1998 and seeking the recovery of the tax,
then that portion of the taxes paid that are in dispute shall be deemed as paid under protest and
such amount shall be segregated and shall be further held pending the outcome of the suit. That
portion of the taxes paid by the taxpayer to the officer which is neither in dispute nor the subject
of a suit contesting the correctness pursuant to R.S.47:1998 shall not be made subject to the
protest.
(i) Any public service property taxpayer resisting the payment of any amount of tax due shall pay
the amount due to the officer designated by law for the collection of such tax and shall give him,
the parish or district assessor, and the Louisiana Tax Commission written notice at the time of
payment of his intention to file suit for the recovery of such tax. If a suit is timely filed
contesting the correctness of the assessment pursuant to R.S.47:1856 and seeking the recovery of
the tax, then that portion of the taxes paid that are in dispute shall be deemed as paid under
protest.
(ii) Prior to any disbursement to a governing authority by the officer designated for its collection,
he shall first give written notice to such governing authority that the law requires any credit
granted to a person to be deducted from the assessment of the year subsequent to a final
determination by a court and that, if a company chooses a refund, that the refund must be paid by
such tax collector no later than March 31 st. of the year subsequent to the final determination by
the court.
(iii) Any funds received as payment of taxes under the provisions of this Subsection may be used
by the governing authority only for nonrecurring expenses. The governing authority of any
jurisdiction shall not use any such funds for nonrecurring expenses in a manner which
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
will displace, replace, or supplant funds which were otherwise available for such
nonrecurring expenses. That portion of the taxes paid by the taxpayer to the officer which is
neither in dispute nor the subject of a suit contesting the correctness pursuant to R.S.47:1998,
shall not be made subject to the protest.
(b) The parish or district assessor or the tax commission may have adjudicated or file a rule
to show cause compelling a public service property taxpayer who has paid taxes under
protest to specify the amount of taxes that the taxpayer deems to be in dispute. The court
shall then order the release of any monies that are not shown by the taxpayer to be in dispute.
(c) If the taxpayer which is a public service property taxpayer prevails, the amount shall be
credited or refunded in the manner provided for in R.S.47:1856(F). If the taxpayer does not
prevail, the taxpayer shall be liable for the additional taxes together with interest as provided
for in such Subsection.
(d) The term “any amount of tax due” shall include, but not be limited to, any amount related
to the enforcement of any provision of law related to such tax.
(3)(a) Any other taxpayer which is not a public service property taxpayer resisting the payment
of any amount of tax due shall pay the amount due to the officer designated by law for the
collection of such tax and shall give him written notice at the time of payment of his
intention to file suit for the recovery of such tax. Upon receipt of such notice, the amount so
paid shall be segregated and held by the officer for a period of thirty days. If a suit is timely
filed seeking the recovery of the tax, then that portion of the taxes paid that are in dispute
shall be deemed as paid under protest and such amount shall be segregated and shall be
further held pending the outcome of the suit. That portion of the taxes paid by the taxpayer
to the officer which is not in dispute shall not be made subject to the protest.
(b) If the taxpayer which is not a public service property taxpayer prevails, the officer shall
refund the amount to the taxpayer with interest at the actual rate earned on the money paid
under protest in the escrow account during the period from the date such funds were received
by the officer to the date of such refund. If the taxpayer does not prevail, the taxpayer shall
be liable for the additional taxes together with interest at the rate set forth above during the
period from the date the notice of intention to file suit for recovery of taxes was given to the
officer until the date such taxes are paid.
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Ad Valorem Tax
B.
The right to sue for recovery of a tax paid under protest as provided herein shall afford a
legal remedy and right of action in any state or federal court having jurisdiction of the parties
and subject matter for a full and complete adjudication of any and all questions arising in the
enforcement of such right respecting the legality of any tax accrued or accruing or the method
of enforcement thereof. In any such suit, service of process upon the officer or agency
designated and provided for in R.S.47:1998 (A)(2) or (B)(3) or Subsection A of this Section
shall be required.
C.
The right to sue for recovery of a tax paid under protest as provided herein shall afford a
legal remedy and right of action at law in the state or federal courts where any tax or the
collection thereof is claimed to be an unlawful burden upon interstate commerce, or in
violation of any act of the Congress of the United States, the Constitution of the United
States, or the constitution of the state. Upon request of a taxpayer and upon proper showing
by such taxpayer that the principle of law involved in an additional assessment is already
pending before the courts for judicial determination, the taxpayer, upon agreement to abide
by the pending decision of the courts, may pay the additional assessment under protest but
need not file an additional suit. With respect to any taxpayer which is not a public service
property taxpayer, in such cases the tax so paid under protest shall be segregated and held by
the officer designated by law for the collection of such tax until the question of law involved
has been determined by the courts and shall then be disposed of as provided in the decision
therein.
D.
An assessment valuation shall be challenged only pursuant to the method or procedures as
provided first in R.S.47:1992, then R.S.47:1989, and finally R.S.47:1998.
E.
Any taxpayer in the state who has paid his disputed taxes under protest as provided herein
and who has filed suit under the provisions of R.S.47:1856, 1857, or 1998 shall cause to be
served in said suit notice to the officer or officers designated for the collection of said taxes
in the parish or parishes where the property is located, the assessor or assessors for the parish
or district, or parishes or districts, where the property is located and the chairman of the
Louisiana Tax Commission.
F.
Any taxpayer who has disputed his tax liability pursuant to R.S.47:1856 or 1857 may appeal
an adverse decision of any court as provided in the Code of Civil Procedure: however, a
taxpayer shall not be required to post bond or provide other security in connection with such
appeal.
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
R.S. 47:2110. Text of Sections (A)(2)(3),C, E, & F effective until July 1, 2006
ON JULY 1, 2006, THE TEXT OF 47:2110 SHALL BE AS FOLLOWS:
R.S. 47:2110. Suit to recover taxes paid under protest
A. (1) No court of this state shall issue any process whatsoever to restrain or render any decision
that shall have the effect of impeding the collection of an ad valorem tax imposed by the
state, or by any political subdivision thereof, under authority granted to it by the legislature
or by the constitution.
(2) Any person resisting the payment of any amount of tax due shall pay the amount due to
the officer designated by law for the collection of such tax and shall give him, the parish or
district assessor, and the Louisiana Tax Commission written notice at the time of payment of
his intention to file suit for the recovery of such tax. Upon receipt of such notice, the
amount so paid shall be segregated and held by the officer for a period of thirty days. If a suit
is timely filed contesting the correctness of the assessment pursuant to R.S.47:1856,1857, or
1998 and seeking the recovery of the tax, then that portion of the taxes paid that are in
dispute shall be deemed as paid under protest and such amount shall be segregated and shall
be further held pending the outcome of the suit. That portion of the taxes paid by the
taxpayer to the officer which is neither in dispute nor the subject of a suit contesting the
correctness pursuant to R.S.47:1856, R.S.47:1857 or R.S.47:1998, shall not be made subject
to the protest. If the taxpayer prevails, the officer shall refund the amount to the taxpayer
with interest at the actual rate earned on the money paid under protest in the escrow account
during the period from the date such funds were received by the officer to the date of such
refund. If the taxpayer does not prevail, the taxpayer shall be liable for the additional taxes
together with interest at the rate set forth above during the period from the date the notice of
intention to file suit for recovery of taxes was given to the officer until the date such taxes are
paid.
B.
The right to sue for recovery of a tax paid under protest as provided herein shall afford a
legal remedy and right of action in any state or federal court having jurisdiction of the parties
and subject matter for a full and complete adjudication of any and all questions arising in the
enforcement of such right respecting the legality of any tax accrued or accruing or the
method of enforcement thereof. In any such suit, service of process upon the officer or
agency designated and provided for in R.S. 47:1998 (A)(2) or (B)(3) or Subsection A of this
Section shall be required.
C.
The right to sue for recovery of a tax paid under protest as provided herein shall afford a
legal remedy and right of action at law in the state or federal courts where any tax or the
collection thereof is claimed to be an unlawful burden upon interstate commerce, or in
violation of any act of the Congress of the United States, the Constitution of the United
States, or the constitution of the state. Upon request of a taxpayer and upon proper showing
by such taxpayer that the principle of law involved in an additional assessment is already
pending before the courts for judicial determination, the taxpayer, upon agreement to abide
by the pending decision of the courts, may pay the additional assessment under protest but
need not
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
D.
E.
F.
file an additional suit. In such cases the tax so paid under protest shall be segregated and held
by the officer designated by law for the collection of such tax until the question of law
involved has been determined by the courts and shall then be disposed of as provided in the
decision therein.
An assessment valuation shall be challenged only pursuant to the method or procedures as
provided first in R.S. 47:1992, then R.S. 47:1989, and finally R.S. 47:1998.
Any taxpayer in the state who has paid his disputed taxes under protest as provided herein
and who has filed suit under the provisions of R.S.47:1856,1857, or 1998 shall cause to be
served in said suit notice to the officer or officers designated for the collection of said taxes
in the parish or parishes where the property is located, the assessor or assessors for the parish
or district, or parishes or districts, where the property is located and the chairman of the
Louisiana Tax Commission, which notice shall be sufficient to cause such officer or officers
to further hold said amount segregated pending the outcome of the suit.
Repealed.
R.S.47:2111. Tax privileges and mortgages; prescription cancellation
All tax privileges and tax mortgages granted by law to secure the payment of ad valorem taxes,
whether state, parish or municipal, shall be prescribed in three years after the thirty-first day of
December of the year in which said taxes are due, and whether such liens are now or hereafter
recorded; provided, that the said prescription shall be interrupted by the pendency of any suit which
prevents the collection of said taxes, and the time of such interruption shall be excluded from the
computation of the said three years.
The clerks and ex officio recorders and of the recorder of mortgages for the parish of Orleans,
shall respectively, on the application of any party in interest who had paid his taxes in full, cancel
and erase all inscriptions of tax privileges and tax mortgages prescribed by the terms of the first
paragraph of this Section on the payment of ten cents for each cancellation; provided, that if the
application is made by the taxpayer, or by any party in interest who has paid the said taxes before
they become delinquent, the cancellation shall be free.
R.S. 47:2112. Acceptance of pro rata taxes on property acquired by state from private owners
A. The tax collectors of the various parishes and cities throughout the state of Louisiana, including
the parish of Orleans and the city of New Orleans, are directed to accept the payment of pro rata
taxes on property purchased in full ownership for rights of way or other purposes, by the State of
Louisiana, or any of its legal subdivisions or entities thereof, and more particularly the
Department of Highways of the State of Louisiana, and the Department of Public Works of the
State of Louisiana, for the period of time for which the liability for taxes have been due by the
private owner or owners of said property.
B. The tax collectors of the various parishes and cities of the State of Louisiana, including the parish
of Orleans and the city of New Orleans, are authorized to accept the payment of the pro rata taxes
on said property, regardless of whether the tax rolls have been filed.
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Ad Valorem Tax
C. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, when property becomes exempt from
ad valorem taxation due to an act of donation, the pro rata share of ad valorem taxes for the year in
which the act of donation is made shall be due and payable by the donor. The pro rata share of ad
valorem taxes shall be calculated and adjusted in accordance with R.S.47:2112 - 47:2114. The
public entity donee, whether the State of Louisiana or any of its legal subdivisions or entities thereof,
shall be responsible for notifying the proper assessor and the Louisiana Tax Commission in order to
properly carry out the intent and purposes of this Subsection.
R.S. 47:2113. Duty of assessors and tax commission to amend tax rolls to conform to proration
of taxes
All assessors throughout the State of Louisiana and the Louisiana tax commission are hereby
authorized and directed to adjust and amend all tax rolls and records within their respective offices in
order to properly carry out the intent and purposes of R.S. 47:2112-47:2114.
R.S. 47:2114. Computation of proration; placing of property on exempt rolls
The proration of said taxes shall be computed to the closest half month or fifteen (15) day period
to the date of the transfer of title to said property from private of public ownership, and the assessor
shall forthwith place said properties on exempt tax rolls.
CHAPTER 5
PART I
SALES
R.S. 47:2171. Movable property; notice of delinquency
A. On December 31 of each year, or as soon thereafter as possible, the tax collector shall
address to each taxpayer who has not paid all the taxes which have been assessed
to him on movable property a written or printed notice:
(1) Setting forth in substance that the taxes assessed to such taxpayer on movable property in
the parish fell due and should have been paid in full on or before December thirty-first;
(2) Stating the aggregate assessed value of the property and the aggregate sum of the taxes
for the current and all preceding years due thereon.
(3) That the taxpayer became delinquent for such taxes on December thirty-first.
(4) That thirty days after receipt of said notice, the tax collector will seize and advertise for
sale the movable property on which the taxes are due in the manner provided by law for
judicial sales.
(5) That at the principal front door of the courthouse, where the civil district court of the
parish is held or at the place of seizure or storage in the parish of Orleans, he will sell
within the legal hours for judicial sales, for cash, cashiers check, certified check, money
order, or wire transfer without appraisement, such portion of the movable property as the
taxpayer shall point out and deliver to the tax collector, and in case the taxpayer shall not
point out sufficient property that he will at once and without further delay sell for cash,
cashier’s check, certified check, money order or wire transfer,
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
without appraisement, the least quantity of the movable property which any bidder will
by for the amount of taxes assessed upon it with interest and costs for the current and all
preceding years and attorney fees.
B. The tax collector in the parish of Orleans, as well as in other parishes of the state, shall mail
to each taxpayer one of the notices provided for above, for which he shall be entitled to
collect from each taxpayer, actual mailing costs of each certified, with return receipt, notice,
and further provided that mileage shall be charged for service of this notice; provided that no
notice shall be charged for unless it has been actually delivered or mailed to the taxpayer.
The collector shall certify on both tax rolls that he has served or mailed all of such notices,
and such certificate on either tax roll shall make full proof until disproved in a judicial
proceeding.
C. The tax collector shall publish once in the official journal published in his district or parish,
if there be one, or in the manner provided by law for judicial sales, one general notice
substantially in the foregoing form, addressed to all owners of assessed movable property
situated in his parish or district, whose names, post offices or agents are unknown, in which
he shall set forth substantially that the taxes of the unknown owners are due and unpaid, and
if not paid within twenty days, that he will proceed to seize and sell such quantity of the
movable property of each said unknown owner as will pay all the taxes, interest and costs.
He shall pay for the publication and shall be entitled to reimbursement of actual costs from
each owner or from the property assessed to him. He shall certify on both tax rolls that he
has published and posted such notices, and such certificate on either shall make full proof
thereon, until disproved in a judicial proceeding.
R.S. 47.2171. For information on judicial sales, refer to R.S. 9.3001 et. seq.;
R.S.13:4341 et. seq.; and the code of Civil Procedure, Article 2331 et. seq.
No maximum bid is required on movable property offered for sale, however, the tax
collector may reject a bid if it is insufficient to cover the taxes, interest and costs due. If no bid is
received, the tax collector may bid the amount of taxes, interest and costs and the jurisdiction
would become the owners of the property.
R.S. 47:2172. Movable property; seizure and sale
The tax collector is authorized to collect the taxes due or which may be due by any person, upon
any movable property, for any year past or the current year, either by taking into his possession so
much of the movable property as may be required, in his opinion, to realize the amount of the tax or
taxes, or by placing a keeper upon the movable property subject to the tax until the day of sale, upon
which day so much of the property as may be necessary to realize the tax or taxes, interest and costs ,
for which it has been seized, shall be sold to the highest bidder, without appraisement and without
redemption; provided that after the tax collector shall have
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Ad Valorem Tax
seized the movable property, as above set out, he shall ascertain the amount of taxes due for the past
year by reference to the assessment roll, and for the current year by fixing the same value or
percentage of value as was used by the state and the parish in the year preceding on like property, and
by applying to that value the rate of taxation applied to property of the same class in the preceding
year. In all cases where the tax collector shall proceed, under the foregoing authority, he shall give
notice, in writing, immediately after actually taking the property into his possession, or placing a
keeper thereon; the notice shall state the amount of taxes, interest, costs and penalties, contain a
demand for payment within the three days; the notice shall be served in the manner now provided for
services of notice of seizure under writs of fieri facias, by the tax collector or deputy, and a return or
statement in writing of the mode of such service shall be made by the officer serving same and shall
be filed in the office of the tax collector, and shall be received by the courts as prima facie evidence
of notice.
On the expiration of three days from the date of giving notice as provided herein, the tax
collector shall advertise, in the manner provided for judicial sales of movable property, that he will
sell so much of the property so seized as may be necessary to pay all the taxes, interest and costs for
which the seizure had been made, such sales to be made without appraisement and without
redemption.
R.S. 47.2172. The amount of merchandise to be seized is not defined by statute and varies by
jurisdiction. Any excess seized merchandise is returned to the taxpayer after sufficient sales are
made to pay all taxes, interest and costs due.
Movable property is synonymous with personal property. The taxing jurisdiction has a personal
claim against the individual for the payment of taxes in addition to it's privileges upon the property
assessed.
A "Keeper" may be any type of locking device to prevent removal of property from tax debtor's
premises.
R.S. 47:2173. Movable property; procedure where removed from parish before payment
Whenever any movable property shall be moved from the parish or municipal corporation in
which such property is assessed to any other parish or municipal corporation in this state before the
taxes on such property are paid, or moved from a municipality to another part of the same parish,
and such taxes are not paid by the owner of such property when due, the tax collector of the parish or
municipality in which such property may be located, at the request of the tax collector of the parish
or municipality from which such property was moved, at the time when the taxes were due, or
subsequent thereto, shall enforce the collection of all taxes due on such property by seizure and sale
in accordance with existing laws. Whenever taxes are collected in
accordance herewith, the tax collector making the collection shall forward the full amount of taxes
collected, including interest and penalties, to the tax collector of the parish or municipal corporation
in which such property was assessed, but may retain all amounts collected for costs incurred in
making the collection.
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
R.S. 47:2174. Movable property; summary seizure to secure payment
The tax collector shall seize the movable property of any tax debtor without notice whenever he
believes that such seizure is necessary to enable him to collect any tax due by the debtor and he shall
make such seizure whenever he has good reason to believe that the tax debtor will conceal, part with,
or dispose of the movable property, which fact must be made to appear by the affidavit of the tax
collector, or one of his deputies; he shall advertise the property in the manner provided for in judicial
sales and shall sell, for cash, cashier’s check, certified check, money order or wire transfer without
appraisement, the least amount of the property seized which
any bidder will buy for the amount of the taxes, interest, and costs.
R.S. 47:2175. Movable property; additional sanction for tax collection
A. Whenever it may be necessary, the tax collector shall seize, advertise in the manner provided
for judicial advertisement, and sell any other property belonging to the tax debtor, to collect
the taxes, interest, and costs due by such debtor for whatever the same will bring in cash,
without appraisement, and in such case, the tax collector shall make sales of the property of
delinquent tax debtors as often as he may be able to find any property of said debtors, until
all the taxes, interest, and costs due by them are paid.
B. In all cases where the collector cannot make a seizure of the personal property liable for the
tax assessed against it, either because of the nature of the property assessed or because the
owner or his representative holds it in his possession or under his control in such a manner
that the tax collector cannot lay hands upon it and refuses on demand to deliver the same to
the tax collector, the tax collector shall have the power to seize any other property belonging
to the tax debtor or he may take into the court having jurisdiction of the subject matter a
summary rule upon the person assessed or his representative, as the case may be, returnable
in five days, in vacation as well as term time, to compel the delivery to him of said property
or so much thereof, if the same be divisible in kind, as may be necessary to realize at public
sale the amount of the taxes, costs, and penalties. All answers to rules shall be in writing and
shall set forth specifically all defenses relied on by the tax delinquent, and shall be made on
or before the time in which the rule is made returnable. Should the tax collector employ the
services of an attorney to bring a summary rule to compel delivery of property, then the tax
debtor shall pay the sum of twenty percent of the taxes and interest due by such debtor, as
attorney's fees, which said amount shall be collectable in the same manner as the taxes,
interest, and costs due by such debtor.
C. The tax collector is authorized to seize and sell any growing or gathered crops or shares
therein whenever such seizure may be necessary to collect taxes assessed. The tax collector
is also authorized to proceed in the courts to procure the garnishment of any salary,
compensation, or reward for personal services, or of any obligations, rights, credits, or debts
due to the tax debtor in any form whatever whenever such garnishment may be necessary to
collect such taxes. No deposits or security for costs shall be required in such cases.
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Ad Valorem Tax
D. The state and its subdivisions and all cities, towns, and villages shall have first lien and
privilege on all personal property for the payment of all taxes on personal property, in all
judicial or insolvency proceedings, receiverships, or liquidations, whether seizure has been
made or not, for such taxes previous to such proceedings, receiverships, or liquidations.
E. All personal property sold at tax sales shall be immediately delivered without the right of
redemption into actual possession of the purchaser by the tax collector, who shall have full
authority and power to make all the seizures necessary to take and deliver such actual
possession.
F. However, if the said tax collector is unable to locate the debtor, any of the personal property
liable for the said tax, or any other personal property belonging to the tax debtor, the said tax
collector shall then make a notation on the tax rolls "NO PROPERTY FOUND". Making
such notation on the tax rolls shall relieve said tax collector from any further obligation for
the collection of said tax, provided however, nothing herein shall discharge the obligation of
the tax debtor and if property is found or the tax debtor is located, the tax collector shall
proceed to collect such taxes as are due.
R.S. 47.2175. Any movable property of the tax debtor may be seized and sold to satisfy delinquent
taxes.
The tax collector may also seek to obtain a personal judgment against the tax debtor for
delinquent taxes.
R.S. 47:2176. Movable property; tax debtors' rights
Any person shall be allowed to point out the particular movable property which he may desire to
have sold for taxes due by him, delivering the property to the tax collector at his office on or before
the day of sale, provided that the property be sufficient in the opinion of the tax collector to realize
the amount of the taxes due.
When seizure is made of movable property in any of the forms provided to enforce the payment
of taxes, the debtor may secure release of the same until the day of sale upon his forthcoming bond,
with solvent security in solido, which shall be executed in the same manner as forthcoming bonds for
property seized under writs of fieri facias. Anyone so releasing his property shall return the same
into the possession of the tax collector for sale on or before the day of sale; unless so returned, the
forthcoming bond shall be considered forfeited and shall be filed in the office of the clerk of a twelve
months' bond to be executed by a writ of fieri facias issued thereon by the clerk against the principal
and sureties in solido, as provided by law for the enforcement of twelve months' bonds. The
forfeiture of the bond shall be made to appear by certificate of the tax collector written thereon.
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
R.S. 47:2177. Movable property; payment of taxes by party taking possession
Whenever any sheriff, constable, marshal, receiver, liquidator, syndic, or other judicial or court
officer or functionary takes possession of personal property, he shall pay at once all the taxes that
may be due or may become due upon the same, and if he fails to do so he shall become responsible
personally upon his bond for the payment of the same. He shall file with his provisional and final
accounts in the case or proceeding a certificate of the tax collector showing that all taxes upon such
property seized or administered have been paid and in the event of failure to do this he shall not be
discharged upon his official bond.
The tax collector shall also have the right to proceed by rule at any time in the court having custody
of personal property or the proceeds thereof, to compel such sheriff, constable, marshal, receiver,
liquidator, or syndic to make payment of all taxes due upon the property, without waiting for
proceeding on final account or tableau of distribution.
R.S. 47:2178. Immovable property; transfer after tax roll filed
No sale, pledge, mortgage or other alienation or encumbrance of property made after the tax roll
shall have been filed in the office of the recorder of mortgages, shall affect the taxes assessed
thereon, but the same shall still be seized, advertised and sold as the property of the taxpayer to
whom assessed, to enforce payment of delinquent taxes.
R.S. 47:2179. Immovable property: lots assessed together
In all cases where two or more lots or parcels of ground shall have been assessed in any year or
years to one person or firm at a certain valuation for the whole together without distinguishing the
valuation of each lot or parcel separately, the tax collector is authorized to receive the proportion of
taxes under assessment fairly due upon any one or more of such lots or parcels separately, tax
collector is authorized to receive the proportion of taxes under assessment fairly due upon any one or
more of such lots or parcels separately, such proportions to be ascertained and fixed by a certificate
signed by the assessor and approved by the tax collector. Such lots or parcels upon which their
proportions shall be so paid shall be free from the proportion of taxes pertaining to the other lots or
parcels of such assessment.
R.S. 47:2180. Immovable property, notice of delinquency
A. (1) (a) On the second day of January each year, or as soon thereafter an possible, the tax
collector shall address to each taxpayer who has not paid all the taxes, which have been
assessed to him on immovable property, or to the record owner of the property for which
the taxes are delinquent, or to the actual owner in the event the record owner is deceased,
written or printed notice in the manner provided for herein that his taxes on immovable
property must be paid within twenty days after the service or mailing of the notice, or that
the property will be sold according to law.
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Ad Valorem Tax
(b) On the second day of January of each year, or as soon thereafter as possible, in each
year following the year in which the original notice of delinquency is made pursuant to
Subparagraph (a) herein, the tax collector shall address to each taxpayer who has not paid
all the taxes which have been assessed to him on immovable property a written notice in
the manner provided herein. The notice shall specify the property upon which the taxes
are delinquent, the amount of taxes due, and the manner in which the property may be
redeemed. The notice shall be made each year until the property is not longer redeemable
as provided in Article VII, Section 25 (B) of the Constitution of Louisiana. The cost of
mailing the notice shall be considered cost for purposes of redemption.
(2) Any taxpayer may designate on additional person to be notified in the event of a
delinquency. Such designated person shall receive the same notification as the delinquent
taxpayer and such notice shall be made in the manner provided for herein.
B. The tax collector shall send to each taxpayer by certified mail, with return receipt requested,
the notice prescribed herein, provided that in cities containing a population of over fifty
thousand persons, the tax collector may either send this notice by certified mail or may make
personal or domiciliary service on the taxpayer. In the event the certified notice is returned
as being undeliverable by the post office, the tax collector may comply with Article 7 Section
25 of the Constitution of Louisiana 2 and the provisions of this Section by advertising the
tax debtor's property in the advertising required for unknown owners in Subsection C of this
Section. After the tax collector shall have completed the service by the notices herein
required, either by mail or by personal or domiciliary service, he shall make out a proces
verbal stating therein the names of delinquents so notified, their post office addresses, a brief
description of the property, the amount of taxes due and how the service of notice was made.
Such proces verbal shall be signed officially by him in the presence of two witnesses and
filed, in the parishes other than the parish of Orleans, in the office of the clerk of court for
recording and preservation. In the parish of Orleans, such proces verbal shall be filed in the
office of the state tax collector for the city of New Orleans and preserved for record. This
proces verbal shall be received by the courts as evidence. The tax collector shall be entitled
to collect actual mailing costs of each certified, with return receipt, notice, and mileage shall
be charged for service of this notice. A like charge will be made if the property is
adjudicated to the state or any subdivision thereof.
( See copy of Article 7, Section 25 of The Constitution of Louisiana in Appendix B )
C. The tax collector shall publish one general notice substantially in the form set forth herein,
addressed to all unknown owners of assessed immovable property situated in his parish, and
to nonresident owners of such property whose post office address is unknown, in which he
shall describe the property as described in the tax roll. Such notice shall be published once a
week for two weeks in a newspaper published in his parish, or if there be none published in
the parish, then such notice shall be given in the manner provided by
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
law for judicial sales. He shall pay for the publication, and shall be entitled to collect as
costs therefor the pro rata share of the publication costs from each unknown owner or
from the property assessed to him. The collector shall certify on his tax rolls that he has
published the notices, and the certificate on either roll shall make full proof thereof until
disproved in a judicial proceeding.
D. Within thirty days after the tax sale, or as soon thereafter as possible, the tax collector shall
research the records of the clerk of court for transfers on all property sold. Within thirty days
of finding a transfer of any property sold at a tax sale, the tax collector shall attempt to serve
the new owner with a certified notice that the property was sold and include in the notice the
amount necessary to redeem the property. This notice shall also advise the owner that the
property may be redeemed at any time within three years from the date of recordation of the
sale. This shall serve as the required notice to the record owner in Subsection A of this
Section.
R.S. 47.2180. (A) "Proces Verbal" is defined as an official, detailed written account of actions taken
or things said.
R.S. 47:2180.1. Notice to Mortgagee
A. On the second day of January each year or as soon thereafter as possible, the tax collector
shall address to each person holding a properly recorded mortgage on immovable property
for which taxes are delinquent, if such mortgage holder has notified the tax collector of such
recorded mortgage, a written notice as provided in R.S. 47:2180 that the taxes on the
immovable must be paid within twenty days after the service or mailing of the notice or the
property will be sold according to law. The notice shall be sent to each person holding a
properly recorded mortgage on immovable property for which taxes are delinquent by
certified mail return receipt requested or by personal or domiciliary service on the mortgagee.
The notification by the mortgagee to the tax collector shall state the legal description of the
immovable property and the name of the record owner. The mortgagee requiring notice of
delinquency shall pay the sum of five dollars annually, per assessment, to the sheriff to defray
the cost of providing the notice. The notification by the mortgagee to the tax collector shall
be renewed annually.
B. (1) If one person holding a properly recorded mortgage on immovable property holds more
than one properly recorded mortgage on the same immovable or if one mortgagee holds
properly recorded mortgages on more than one immovable and taxes on the immovable are
delinquent the tax collector shall send only written notice to the holder of the properly
recorded mortgage as required by R.S. 47:2180.1(A) listing every immovable on which the
person holds a properly recorded mortgage and the taxes which are delinquent and due for
each immovable.
(2) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a tax sale shall not be annulled or set aside
due to lack of notice to the mortgagee as provided herein.
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Ad Valorem Tax
R.S. 47: 2181. Immovable property; advertisement for sale
A. At the expiration of twenty days' notice, counting from the day when the last of the notices is
mailed, published, or posted, or as soon thereafter as practicable, the tax collector (except in
the parish of Orleans, where the procedure shall be as set forth hereinafter), shall proceed to
advertise for sale the consolidated delinquent tax list under one form as provided for judicial
sales of immovable property on which the taxes are due, substantially as follows:
DELINQUENT TAX LIST
Appropriate Taxing Body vs. Delinquent Tax Debtors
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the constitution and the laws of the State of Louisiana,
I will sell, at the principal front door of the courthouse in which the civil district court of said parish
is held, within the legal hours for judicial sales beginning at
o'clock a.m. on (Day of
week) , the
day of
A.D., 20
, and continuing on each
succeeding day, until said sales are completed, all immovable property on which taxes are now due
to the (Insert Affected Taxing Bodies) , to enforce collection of taxes assessed in the year 20
,
together with interest thereon from the first day of January, 20
, at the rate of one per centum
(1%) per month until paid and all costs. The names of said delinquent taxpayers, the amount of taxes
due by each on the assessment of said year, and the immovable property assessed to each to be
offered for sale as follows:
(Insert names of delinquent tax debtors in alphabetical order, the amount of taxes assessed in
each year on each specific piece of property, and the description of each specific piece of
immovable property to be offered for sale.)
On the day of sale I will at once sell such portions of the property as each debtor will point out
and, in case the debtor will not point out sufficient property, will at once and without further delay
sell the least quantity of said property of any debtor which any bidder will buy for the amount or the
taxes, interest and costs due by said debtor. The sale will be without appraisement, for cash, cashiers
check, certified check, money order or wire transfer in legal tender money of the United States and
the property sold will be redeemable at any time for the space of three years by paying the price
given, including costs and five per centum (5%) penalty thereon, with interest at the rate of one per
centum (1 %) per month until redeemed.
B. Advertisement shall be signed officially by the Tax Collector, and shall be dated.
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
C. In the parish of Orleans, the tax collector shall not be required to advertise the names and
property of all delinquent taxpayers at one advertisement but may proceed alphabetically and
advertise the names and property on which the largest amount of taxes are due, taking some
fixed amount as the basis and first advertising all above the amount so fixed at one and the
same time, and shall so continue in like manner to advertise and sell from time to time as fast
as possible until the collection of all delinquent taxes is enforced. Each ten lines of nonpareil
type of tax sales advertisement shall constitute a square, and shall be paid for by the tax
collector as now provided by law, each delinquent being responsible only for the pro rata
space of said ten lines occupied by the description of his taxes and property. The state tax
collector for the city of New Orleans, in advertising property for sale for delinquent state
taxes as required by law, shall state in the advertisement not only the name of the tax debtor
who appears on the assessment rolls for the year for which the tax sale is being made, but
also the name of the present owner ascertained in the manner provided in R.S. 47:2104.
D. For the purpose of tax sales it shall be sufficient to advertise all property in the name of the
person or persons, whether dead or alive, who at the time the assessment was made appeared
to be the owners thereof upon the books of the conveyance office in the parish of Orleans,
and of the recorder's office in the other parishes of the state.
E. For the purpose of tax sales it shall be sufficient to assess and describe all property assessed
in the following manner: by designating the tract or lot by the name by which it is commonly
known, or by the number or letter by which it may be usually designated upon the regular
assessment rolls or upon an official or private plan or sketch, or by giving the boundaries or
the names of the owners upon each side, or by the dimensions or description or name given
in the act translating the ownership thereof, or by such other further description as may
furnish the means of reasonable identification.
F. If any error in the description of any property or owner's name be discovered by the tax
collector, he shall note the correct description and name on the tax rolls, and advertise and
sell said property by its correct description; provided, no such change shall be made without
ten days' notice to the real owner of such property, and the proof of such service shall be in
writing and filed in the tax collector's office.
G. No tax sale shall be set aside or annulled for any error in description or measurement of the
property assessed in the name of the owner provided the property sold can be reasonably
identified. When advertisements are required to be made in relation to the sale of property
for unpaid taxes, the advertisements shall be made in the English language only.
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Ad Valorem Tax
R.S. 47:2181.1. Time, day, and place for holding tax sales by municipal tax collectors
Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S. 47:2181, a municipal tax collector may hold the tax sale
for municipal taxes at a municipal building in lieu of the courthouse in which the civil district court
is held, and on such day and time between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. as he may determine.
He shall advertise the place, day, date, and time as determined under this Section, but otherwise the
advertisement shall be in accordance with R.S. 47:2181.
R.S. 47:2182. Immovable property; time of sale
The tax collectors throughout the state shall seize, advertise and sell the property upon which
delinquent taxes are due, on or before the first day of May of the year following the year in which the
taxes were assessed, or as soon thereafter as possible; if any tax collector or ex-officio tax collector
shall fail, neglect or refuse to seize, advertise or sell the delinquent property as aforesaid, he shall be
guilty of nonfeasance in office and, upon conviction, shall be dismissed therefrom.
R.S. 47:2183. Immovable property; tax sales; tax deeds
A. Each state tax collector and ex-officio collector of state taxes, and the tax collectors of the
municipal authorities of the various towns and city governments and political subdivisions
throughout the state, shall execute and sign in person or by deputy, in the name of the state
(or other taxing subdivision as the case may be) a deed of sale to purchasers of any real estate
sold for taxes, in which he shall relate in substance a brief history of the proceedings had,
shall describe the property, state the amount of the taxes, interest and costs and the bid made
for the property, and the payment made to him in cash, cashier’s check, certified check,
money order or wire transfer and shall sell the property to the purchaser, with the right to be
placed in actual possession thereof, by order of a court of competent jurisdiction, and shall
conclude the deed with the statement in bold faced type that the property shall be redeemable
at any time for the space of three years beginning on the day when the deed is filed for record
in the conveyance office in the parish in which the property is situated.
B. If not redeemed, such record in the conveyance or mortgage office shall operate as a
cancellation of all conventional and judicial mortgages; provided that whenever a sale shall
be made at the instance and request of a subrogee as provided in R.S. 47:2105, the
recordation in the conveyance or mortgage office of the tax deed executed by the tax
collector to the purchaser shall operate as a cancellation of all liens and privileges, as well as
of all conventional and judicial mortgages, recorded against the property sold, except the
liens and privileges for taxes and paving and other assessments due the state or any political
subdivision thereof which shall be governed by existing laws.
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
R.S. 47:2183 (C) was amended by Both Act 430 and Act 819 of the 2004 Regular Legislative
Session. Both versions are listed here. Until the conflict is resolved, the tax purchaser must
comply with the most stringent requirements of Act 430.
Act 430 Language
C.
Within thirty days of the tax sale, the purchaser shall provide notice of the sale of that
property to the prior owner of the property who failed to pay the taxes on the property by all
of the following:
(1) Mailing to the prior owner, the mortgagee, and any other person who may have a vested
or contingent interest in the property, or who has filed a request for notice in the mortgage
records or conveyance records of the parish in which the property is located, at the last
known address of the prior owner, the mortgagee, and any other person who may have a
vested or contingent interest in the property, or who has filed a request for notice in the
mortgage records or conveyance records of the parish in which the property is located, a
notice that the property has been sold for taxes. The notice shall provide full and accurate
information, including the name, physical address, and telephone number of the purchaser,
necessary to contact the purchaser and shall be accompanied by a copy of the deed of sale
received by the purchaser under the provisions of this Section and copies of the documents
which the purchaser received with that deed of sale. The notice shall inform the prior owner,
the mortgagee, and any other person who may have a vested or contingent interest in the
property, or who has filed a request for notice in the mortgage records or conveyance records
of the parish in which the property is located that failure to redeem the property prior to the
expiration of the three-year redemption period, will terminate the right to redeem the
property and the purchaser will have the right to seek confirmation of the tax title and take
actual possession of the property. The notice required by this Section, and the documents
required to be mailed with that notice, shall be mailed by certified mail, return receipt
requested.
(2) Delivering the notice required by this Section, and the documents required to be provided
with that notice, to the prior owner, at the last known address of the prior owner. Delivery
shall be made during appropriate hours, by leaving the notice and the documents with a
person of suitable age and discretion, or, if no person of suitable age and discretion is
available, by posting the notice and the documents in a conspicuous place on the property.
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Ad Valorem Tax
Act 819 Language
C. Within thirty days of the day when the deed is filed for record in the conveyance office
in the parish in which the property is situated, the purchaser shall provide notice of the
sale of that property to the prior owner of the property who failed to pay the taxes on the
property by mailing to the prior owner, at the last known address of the prior owner, a
notice that the property has been sold for taxes. The notice shall provide to the prior
owner full and accurate information, including the name, physical address, and telephone
number of the purchaser, necessary for the prior owner to contact the purchaser and
shall be accompanied by a copy of the deed of sale received by the purchaser under the
provisions of this Section and copies of the documents which the purchaser received with
that deed of sale. The notice shall inform the prior owner that if he fails to redeem his
property prior to the expiration of the three-year redemption period, the purchaser will
have the right to seek confirmation of the tax title and take actual possession of the
property. The notice required by this Section, and the documents required to be mailed
with that notice, shall be mailed by certified mail, return receipt requested. If the return
receipt is not returned within thirty days, or if it is returned without a signature indicating
completion of delivery, then the purchaser may provide further notice by delivering the
notice required by this Section, and the documents required to be provided with that
notice, to the prior owner, at the last known address of the prior owner. Delivery shall be
made during appropriate hours, by leaving the notice and the documents with a person of
suitable age and discretion, or, if no person of suitable age and discretion is available, by
posting the notice and the documents in a conspicuous place on the property.
D.
E.
Repealed by Act 819
The provisions of this Section shall not apply to property which has been adjudicated to a
parish or a municipality. (Amended by Act 430)
R.S. 47:2183. A tax title does not, ipso facto, deprive the tax debtor of the actual possession of the
property sold at the tax sale, but such sale only gives the tax purchaser a right to be put in
possession of the property under the tax deed in the manner provided by law.
A tax purchaser does not forfeit his title by failing to take possession of the property purchased.
24b
Title 47 Statute & Regulation
R.S. 47:2184. Immovable property; interests conveyed
The tax sale shall convey, and the purchaser shall take, the whole of the property assessed to the
delinquent taxpayer if it is the least quantity sufficient to satisfy the aggregate of all taxes, interest,
penalties, and costs. If the property is divisible in kind and a part of the whole is sufficient to satisfy
such aggregate charges, the collector shall require the bid or bids to be for such lesser portion of the
whole property as will satisfy such charges and shall not entertain a bid in excess thereof. In
determining if the property is divisible in kind the description of the property on the assessment rolls
shall be binding on the tax collector. The tax collector shall not be required and shall be prohibited
from dividing the property into smaller quantities than that contained in the description of the
property contained on the assessment rolls. If the tax collector
determines from the description of the property contained on the assessment rolls that it is not
divisible in kind he shall then proceed to sell such lesser undivided interest of the whole property as
will satisfy such charges and shall not entertain a bid in excess thereof. The tax sale shall convey
and the purchaser shall take the entirety of the property intended to be assessed and sold as it was
owned by the delinquent taxpayer regardless of any error in the dimensions or description of the
property as assessed and sold. The tax collector in the advertisement or deed of sale may give the
full description according to original titles.
R.S. 47:2184. The interest conveyed at a tax sale is only that which is owned by the delinquent
taxpayer
R.S. 47:2185. Immovable property; putting in possession
Upon the presentation of a certified copy of a tax deed for immovable to any judge of competent
jurisdiction (such jurisdiction to be determined by the value of the immovable therein described and
not the amount of the taxes), the judge shall in chambers grant an order of seizure and possession,
commanding the sheriff to seize such property and place the purchaser in actual possession thereof, a
writ of possession shall be issued thereon by the clerk, but the purchaser may take actual possession
without such order, with the consent or acquiescence of the debtor or otherwise, provided no force or
violence shall be used.
R.S. 47:2185. Tax purchaser is entitled to immediate possession and is not required to wait for
expiration of the three (3) year redemption period before assuming possession.
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Ad Valorem Tax
R.S. 47:2186. Immovable property; adjudication to the state
The bid to be accepted in tax sales shall be at least equal to the taxes, costs and interest;
otherwise, the tax collector shall bid in the property for the state, and shall not readvertise the
property or properties so adjudicated to the state for sale, unless the same has been redeemed. In the
case of adjudication to the state, the tax collector shall make out and record a title deed, as in sales to
individuals, and forward a copy of the sale deed to the auditor. If he fails to deposit the act for record
or to forward a copy thereof to the Register of the State Land Office as and within the time provided
by law, he shall be guilty of nonfeasance in office and, upon conviction, shall be dismissed
therefrom.
The tax collector shall, immediately after the adjudication to the state, or at as early a date
thereafter as possible notify the tax debtor in writing whether by actual service in case of residents,
by mail in case of nonresidents whose post office address is known, and by one publication in a
newspaper of the parish wherein he exercises his function in case of unknown owners and
nonresidents whose post office address is unknown, that within thirty days he will take actual
corporeal possession of the property so adjudicated. After the lapse of the delay, he shall take
possession of all property bid in for and adjudicated to the state for unpaid taxes, and to this end he
shall command the services of the district attorney who shall immediately proceed by direct suit, or
otherwise as may be proper to obtain possession of such property.
Suits shall be instituted in the name of the Register of the State Land Office, triable by preference
over all other civil suits both in lower and upper courts and prosecuted without costs of court to the
state. The sheriff upon taking or being placed in possession as herein provided by judgment of court,
shall notify the facts to the Register of the State Land Office who shall lease or rent the property bid
in for and adjudicated to the state and shall collect the rental. All moneys thus paid into the state
treasury shall go into the general fund. For all moneys so paid, the Register of the State Land Office
shall receive a commission of five per centum (5%).
R.S. 47:2186. Notice must be served on owner of record at the time of advertisement and sale of
the property, and not on the owner of record at the time the notice of delinquency was sent out by the
tax collector.
A copy of the adjudication deed does not have to be sent to the Register of the State Land Office.
(see R.S. 47:2251 which substitutes the parish for the State in all matters regarding tax sales).
(see R.S. 33:2841 which states the right of municipalities to collect their taxes.)
26
Title 47 Statute & Regulation
R.S. 47:2187. Immovable property; adjudication to state; control thereof
The Register of the State Land Office shall have charge, control and disposition of all property
that may hereafter be bid in for and adjudicated to the state for unpaid taxes. He shall keep and
preserve all records, papers and documents relative to such property coming into his possession, shall
open and keep all books necessary to provide and preserve all and ample data records of the
acquisition by the state of such property and cancellations thereof and of the redemptions and sales
of such property, and shall have authority to acquire of the Department of Public Works any and all
plats, field notes and surveys thereof as he may deem necessary or proper.
R.S. 47:2188. Immovable property; adjudication to state, 1870-1879; cancellation
All the records and inscriptions of property appearing upon the records of the office of the state
auditor as having been forfeited, sold or adjudicated to the state for nonpayment of taxes for the years
1870 to 1879, inclusive, and not heretofore disposed of, are hereby canceled and annulled. The
interested party shall make production of the original tax receipts duly paid, or if these have been
mislaid or destroyed, he shall make a declaration under oath reciting that it is to his personal
knowledge that such taxes have been paid for the year in which the delinquency or adjudication
appears, but that the receipts have been mislaid or destroyed.
R.S. 47:2189. Immovable property; adjudication to state; procedure for sale
A. (1) Whenever any person desires to purchase any unredeemed property adjudicated to the
state for unpaid taxes due, he shall, with an application to purchase, deposit with the
secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, an amount of money sufficient to cover
the expenses of the sale including advertising, appraisals, and other costs associated with said
sale as evidence of good faith in the application.
(2) The secretary shall determine the amount of money to be deposited and shall make the
determination in the manner provided in the Administrative Procedure Act.
(3) Should such applicant at the sale herein provided for fail to purchase such property, the
money so deposited shall be returned to him; provided that if no one at the sale bid up to the
minimum price hereinafter stipulated, then such money shall be retained to pay the expense
of the sale, and money remaining after the expenses are paid shall be returned to the
depositor.
27
Ad Valorem Tax
B. (1) The secretary of the Department of Natural Resources shall cause to be published in the
official journal of the parish where such property is located, for thirty days, an advertisement
setting forth the description of the land to be sold and the time, place, and terms of such sale,
and he shall announce in the advertisement the minimum price which will be accepted.
(2) Such advertisement shall be placed in the real estate, business, or other appropriate
section of the journal and shall be highlighted and surrounded by a black border or other
suitable designation. Such advertisement shall be in addition to any other legal notice of the
sale.
(3) Within thirty days before such publication the secretary shall cause an appraisal of the
property to be made by a person who shall be appointed by him. The secretary shall pay the
appraiser a reasonable compensation to be fixed by the secretary who shall be reimbursed for
such compensation out of the moneys derived from the sale of such property. Based upon the
appraisal thus made the secretary shall determine and fix a fair and reasonable price which
shall constitute the minimum price which will be accepted.
(4)(a) Nothing less than such minimum price shall be received for the property at the sale
provided that whenever any person desires to purchase so-called "stamp lots" or "subdivision
lots" he shall attach to his application to purchase a list in duplicate, numerically arranged,
showing the lot numbers of the lots in each subdivision which he desires to purchase and,
opposite each lot number, the person in whose name the same was adjudicated to the state,
the date of adjudication, the number allotted to the same in the proces verbal of adjudication
to the state, the dimensions thereof concluding with a statement showing the aggregate
acreage of the lots so listed, one of such duplicates to be filed in the records of the
Department of Natural Resources and the remaining one to be forwarded to the sheriff
authorized to sell the property.
(b) For purposes of this Paragraph, "stamp lots" or "subdivision lots" are defined as lots
containing eleven thousand square feet or less located outside of the limits of municipalities
in subdivisions created for mineral developments only and not for residence or partition
purposes heretofore adjudicated to the state for unpaid taxes.
C. In the event the property which it is desired to purchase as having been bid in for and
adjudicated to the state for unpaid taxes consists of a number of lots forming part of the same
tract, subdivision or plantation, then and in such event, the Register of the State Land Office
may group in one advertisement all of such lots in the tract, subdivision or plantation that it is
desired to purchase, causing such advertisement to contain the description of all of such lots
to be sold as a whole.
28
Title 47 Statute & Regulation
D. The newspapers publishing the advertisement of sales herein provided for shall receive
therefor not more than the legal rate for advertising. The property so advertised shall be sold
by the sheriff of the parish wherein it is located, at the principal front door of the courthouse
of such parish, between the hours of 11 o'clock a.m. and 1 o'clock p.m., to the last and
highest bidder for cash.
E. (1) If at any moment before the actual adjudication takes place the tax debtor, his heir,
administrator, executor, assign, or successor, shall pay to the sheriff all taxes and interest due
upon the property to the state, the parish, and municipality in which it is situated, as well as
all such taxes as may be due thereon to any levee, drainage, road, or school district and other
public instrumentality, as well as twenty per centum (20%) thereof added thereto and all
interest and costs, then the adjudication shall be made by said sheriff to the tax debtor, his
heir, administrator, executor, assign, or successor, as the case may be, by preference over all
other bidders even though they had bid larger sums. Provided, however, that if the
delinquent taxes were directly attributable to the failure of the taxpayer to file an application
for a homestead exemption for which he was otherwise eligible, the taxpayer shall only be
required to pay to the sheriff an amount of money sufficient to cover the expenses of the sale,
including advertising, appraisals, and other costs associated with said sale.
(2) An adjudication of a part of the property advertised for sale to a tax debtor hereunder or a
redemption of such part by him under other laws shall not affect the validity of an
adjudication of the balance of the property by the sheriff nor require an amendment of the
advertisement of sale, but the sheriff shall show in his proces verbal of sale the reason why
he departed from the terms of the advertisement in that respect. The sheriff making the
adjudication shall deliver to the tax debtor, his heir, administrator, executor, assign, or
successor, as the case may be, who has complied with his bid by paying the price of the
adjudication to him, a proces verbal of the adjudication and, upon the surrender thereof to the
register of the state land office, the tax debtor shall be entitled to a patent issued in his name,
signed by the register of the state land office and by the governor.
F. In the case of "stamp lots" or "oil development lots", as hereinabove defined, the commission
to sell, the advertisement of sale, the sheriff's deed and the patent issued thereon need
describe the property only by the numbers of the first and last lots in each consecutive
numbered series of lots, the block or section designation and the name and location of the
subdivision in which the lots are located, but the description must clearly show that the
intervening, as well as the first and last numbered lots of the series, were offered for sale and
were actually sold by using appropriate language, such, for example, as "lots 1 to 100, both
inclusive, etc."
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Ad Valorem Tax
Should there be no bid at the sale equal to the minimum price fixed in the advertisement as
provided herein, then the sheriff shall make no adjudication of the property, but shall by
proces verbal certify such fact to the Register of the State Land Office who, upon receipt of a
further deposit of $35.00, except the parish of Orleans, which shall be $60.00, shall
determine and fix a different minimum price at not less than one-half of the original
minimum price, and shall then cause such property to be readvertised for sale. The same
procedure shall be observed, except that the minimum bid for which the property may be sold
shall be the new price fixed by the Register of the State Land Office as herein provided.
G. The state tax collector for the city of New Orleans shall, in making his tax research
certificates, make a research and report the condition of the tax rolls for thirty years, only,
prior to the first of January for the year in which the tax research certificate is applied for.
This tax research shall indicate on its face, year by year, for each year of the period of thirty
years, whether the taxes, if paid for any particular year, has been paid to the state tax
collector for the parish of Orleans by payment of money, or check, money order, etc., or, by
tax sale to an individual or to the state of Louisiana. The tax research certificate shall be
conclusive and binding upon the State of Louisiana, reserving to the state its recourse upon
the tax collector and his bondsman for any losses it may sustain by reason of any errors
therein made.
H. The Register of the State Land Office shall furnish the state tax collector for the City of New
Orleans with a list of all property within the City of New Orleans, sold to the state for unpaid
taxes and which has not been redeemed, and upon the receipt of this list the state tax
collector for the City of New Orleans shall enter the property described in the list in
alphabetical order upon a sales book in each of the municipal districts of the City of New
Orleans, to be kept in his office, and in issuing subsequent tax research certificates shall
report thereon only such tax sales to the state as appear on the list thus furnished by the
Register of the State Land Office. As to sales made to third persons other than the state,
prior to the ten years for which the state tax collector is required to furnish tax certificates as
above mentioned, the purchasers of property must, and shall be guided by the records of the
office of the register of conveyances for the parish of Orleans.
I. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to apply to any lands in this state that have been
adjudicated to the state for the nonpayment, either in whole or in part, of acreage taxes or
forced contributions levied, imposed or assessed by any drainage or subdrainage district
under and by virtue of a vote of the property taxpayers in such drainage or subdrainage
district, where such adjudication to the state was made between December 31, 1920 and July
31, 1924. But lands adjudicated to the state of Louisiana subsequent to July 30, 1924, for the
nonpayment, wholly or in part, of acreage taxes or forced contributions levied, imposed and
assessed by any drainage or subdrainage district, or by any gravity
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drainage, or gravity subdrainge district of this state, whether levied and imposed as a result of
the vote of property taxpayers or not, shall be sold under the provisions of this Section,
except that they shall not be sold for an amount less than all acreage taxes or forced
contributions due thereon, together with interest and penalties.
R.S. 47:2189.1. Legislative findings; promotion of tax sales encouraged; marketing plan
A. (1) The legislature finds that there are thousands of parcels of land which have been
adjudicated to the state of non-payment of taxes.
(2) It further finds that the state does not have sufficient resources or personnel to prepare
most of this property for public sale.
(3) Recognizing that the state would benefit by the prompt sale of such property and deposit
of the accrued revenues to the state the legislature therefore encourages the participation of
the private sector in the sale of such lands as provided for in Subsection (B) of this Section.
B. The secretary of the Department of Natural Resources shall, in consultation with the Real
Estate Commission and other appropriate agencies, develop a marketing plan for the sale of
lands which have been adjudicated to the state for non-payment of taxes. Such plan shall
include:
(1) Methods for the private sector to assist with appraisal and promotion of sale of such
lands.
(2) Alternative methods of payment of reasonable compensation to such real estate agents
assisting with the sale which shall be taxed as costs of the sale.
(3) Minimum requirements for title examination and physical inspection of such lands to
determine appropriateness of sale.
(4) Minimum requirements for a good faith effort by the secretary of the Department of
Natural Resources to locate the owner or other parties with interest to redeem in the event a
sale is not appropriate.
(5) Estimates of the resources required to implement the plan.
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Ad Valorem Tax
R.S. 47:2190. Immovable property; adjudication to state; disposition of proceeds of sale
A. (1) All monies derived from the sale of property as herein provided shall be forwarded to the
state treasurer without delay after the sheriff making the sale shall have deducted therefrom
the expenses of advertising and his commission for making such sale, which shall be four per
centum of the amount bid and paid.
(2) When a sheriff is notified by the Register of the State Land Office that the notice to sell
property under the provisions herein is recalled and he is instructed to stop proceedings, he
shall be entitled to a fee of five dollars for the services rendered by him, which fee shall be
assessed as costs to be paid by the person redeeming the property and shall be payable to the
sheriff by the Register of the State Land Office at the time a settlement is made by that office
with the person redeeming the property.
(3) When the sheriff shall make a deed to a party who has bid in any property at any such
sale, he shall be paid a fee of fifteen dollars for making such deed to be paid by the purchaser
of such property. A sheriff in forwarding said money shall forward a statement certified by
him as correct showing the amount of the bid, the expenditure for advertising, and the
amount withheld by him as commission; he shall at the time forward to the Register of the
State Land Office a duplicate of the proces verbal of sale, wherein he shall give a correct
description of property sold with the recital of the acts performed by him in effecting said
sale, the amount of the purchase price received, the expense of advertising, the amount of his
commission, and the amount in cash forwarded to the state treasurer.
B. (1) From the amount thus received by him the treasurer shall deduct the taxes, interest, and
costs due to the state and to any of its parishes, municipalities, and other agencies at the time
of the adjudication of the property to the state, together with all taxes, interest and costs due
the state and any of its parishes, municipalities, and other agencies for subsequent years up to
the day of sale hereunder, also the amount due any municipality for valid and existing paving
liens operating against said property, and any amount due to any parish or municipality for
reasonable costs of maintenance or demolition incurred during the redemptive period; and
shall transfer the same to the credit of the state tax funds and to the amount of said parishes,
municipalities, and other agencies, and in due course he shall pay the same over to the latter
in the following order of preference:
(a) First, taxes and interest due the state, and its parishes, and any of its agencies.
(b) Second, taxes and interest due the municipalities.
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
(c) Third, paving liens and interest due the municipalities.
(d) Fourth, reasonable costs due the parishes or municipalities for maintenance or
demolition incurred during the redemptive period.
(2) Should the amount so received be insufficient to pay the taxes and interest due the state
and its parishes and any of its agencies, and the taxes and interest due the municipalities and
paving liens and interest due the municipalities, and amounts due the parishes and
municipalities due to maintenance or demolition costs incurred during the redemptive period,
then, and in that event, the said property adjudicated hereunder shall be burdened with the
obligation to pay the deficiencies of such taxes, interest, paving liens, reasonable
maintenance or demolition costs, and interests, as may be due by the state, its parishes, its
agencies, and municipalities and the paving liens and reasonable maintenance or demolition
costs due the parishes and municipalities in the order above mentioned.
(3) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to deprive the state, its parishes, its agencies, or
any municipalities of any taxes, interests, paving liens, reasonable maintenance or demolition
costs, and interests, due.
(4) The remainder, if any shall place to the credit of the general fund of the state.
R.S. 47:2191. Repealed by Acts 1952, No. 626
R.S. 47:2192. Sales of immovable property; effect on taxes for prior years
No sale of property for taxes due for the year immediately past shall in any manner affect,
invalidate, or extinguish the claim of the state, or any municipality or parish for the taxes due on such
property for any previous year or years.
R.S. 47:2193. Sales of immovable property; payment of taxes by purchaser
From the date of recording a tax deed to property, all taxes thereon shall after that date, be
assessed to and paid by the purchaser, until the property, or any part thereof, be redeemed. If
redeemed, in whole or in part, the person redeeming shall pay all taxes assessed upon the property
redeemed, subsequent to the tax sale.
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Ad Valorem Tax
R.S. 47:2194. Purchase by assessors, tax collectors, and other officers at tax sale forbidden
It is unlawful for any sheriff, tax collector or their deputies or any other officer, state, municipal
or parochial, whose duties are to assess or collect taxes of any nature whatsoever for the state, parish
or municipality, to buy either directly or indirectly, any property, movable or immovable, sold or
offered for sale, for taxes; any sale of such property to such an officer shall be null and void.
CHAPTER 5
PART II
REDEMPTIONS
R.S. 47:2221. Right to redeem
Property sold at a tax sale shall be redeemable in accordance with Section 25 of Article VII of the
constitution of 1974. Nothing in this Section shall be construed so as to affect in any way, the
principle that as to a tax debtor-owner in possession, prescription does not begin against him and in
favor of the tax title purchaser until such tax debtor-owner has been first dispossessed.
R.S. 47.2221. Courts have ruled that this section is invalid as Article 7, Section 25 of the
constitution of 1974 sets forth preemptive period for redemption, and the three year prescriptive
period cannot be suspended or interrupted by tax debtor's continued possession of property.
R.S. 47:2222 Payments Required- signature of purchaser
A. The person redeeming property, in whole or in part, shall pay all taxes assessed upon the
property redeemed subsequent to the tax sale with interest at the rate of one percent per
month until redeemed.
B. In all cases where two or more lots or parcels of land have been assessed as a whole without
distinguishing the valuation of each lot or parcel separately and have been adjudicated as a
whole to a tax purchaser in the name of any one person, the owner or any person interested
personally, or as heir, legatee, creditor or otherwise, may redeem a lot or lots or parcels of
ground by paying to the tax purchaser the proportionate taxes due thereon together with
interests, costs, and five percent penalty thereon. The person in interest shall secure a
certificate signed by the assessor and approved by the tax collector of the parish in which the
property is located showing the proportion of taxes due on the lots or parcels of land desired
to be redeemed.
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
C. The payment required for the redemption of immovable property adjudicated to a purchaser
for taxes may be made either to the purchaser or to the tax collector making the sale or to his
successor in office. Upon payment to the tax collector making the sale, or to his successor in
office, the tax collector or his successor in office, as the case may be, shall immediately
execute a certificate of redemption of the property sold, in which receipt of the redemption
payment shall be acknowledged, and the property shall be declared duly redeemed to the tax
debtor, it shall be the further duty of the tax collector, or his successor in office, to deliver the
said certificate of redemption to the party redeeming the property and to cause notice of the
redemption to be entered on the records of his office. All fees and costs in connection with
the issuance of the certificate of redemption shall be paid by the party redeeming.
D. The purchaser of any real estate sold to pay taxes due thereon at a tax collector's sale shall be
entitled to receive from the owner or agent of such real estate, in addition to all the other
requirements prescribed by law, the value of the improvements made upon such real estate by
the purchaser thereof at the sale, but nothing in this Paragraph shall be construed as in any
manner affecting the rights, claims, and privileges now allowed by law to the purchaser.
E. Notwithstanding any provision of the law to the contrary, when real estate sold to pay taxes
is redeemed by payment to the purchaser, only the signature of the purchaser as its appears in
the sale of the real estate sold to pay taxes thereon is required on the redemption. If the
purchaser is married, the signature of the purchaser's spouse is not required on the
redemption unless the spouse is a named party in the conveyance of the real estate purchased
at the tax sale or in the recordation thereof.
R.S. 47:2222.1. Additional payments required
A. In addition to the payments required under R.S. 47:2222, the purchaser of any real estate sold
to pay taxes due thereon at a tax collector's sale shall be entitled to receive from the owner or
agent of such real estate the cost of any repairs, rehabilitation, maintenance, removal, or
demolition made or done thereon by said purchaser to the extent not otherwise included in
the value of improvements for which payment is required under R.S. 47:2222, when required
by an order of a political subdivision, as defined in article VI, Section 44(2) of the
Constitution of Louisiana, for the purpose of enforcing a property standards ordinance. The
reimbursement for costs set forth in this Section shall be limited to the minimum amount
reasonably necessary to comply with the order of such political subdivision and the property
standards ordinance.
B. To prove the cost of repairs, rehabilitation, maintenance, removal, or demolition made or
done on such real estate, the purchaser of the real estate thus sold shall provide written
receipts for the payments of said costs from the persons who performed the work or from
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Ad Valorem Tax
whom the materials were purchased. In the event the owner of the real estate contests the
validity of such documentation, appraisers shall be appointed and shall proceed in the
manner set forth in R.S. 47:2223 to determine the cost of said repairs, rehabilitation,
maintenance, removal, or demolition. The governing authority of the City of Shreveport, the
governing authority of the City of Monroe, and the governing authority of the City of New
Orleans shall each respectively enact such procedures, rules, and regulations as may be
necessary for the implementation of this Section.
R.S. 47.2222.1. Section R.S. 33:4754 also provides that after any parishes or cities listed in (A) (1)
of said section have incurred such costs, they may be added to the next ad valorem tax bill, and if
unpaid, the property may be sold as for unpaid property taxes.
R.S. 47:2223. Appraisal of value of improvements
To ascertain the just valuation of the improvements made upon such real estate, the owner or
agent of the real estate thus sold shall appoint one disinterested person and the purchaser thereof
shall appoint one disinterested person, and both shall proceed to appraise the value of the
improvements made upon the real estate, and in case of their disagreeing, then the two appraisers
shall appoint a third disinterested person, whose valuation shall be final, and the amount thus
ascertained as the value of the improvements made upon such real estate shall be paid by the owner
or agent to the purchaser thereof, or his assign, and in case of nonpayment the amount shall be
collected as in any civil suit before the court of competent jurisdiction.
The persons thus appointed as appraisers shall be entitled to and shall receive the sum of three
dollars for every day actually occupied in the appraisement and going to and returning from the real
estate upon which the improvements are, and which they have been called upon to appraise, and they
shall receive the further sum of ten cents per mile for the actual and shortest distance they may travel
in the performance of their duty, all of which expenses shall be paid by the owner or agent of such
real estate, and the same shall be collectible by civil suit before any court of competent jurisdiction.
The persons thus designated as appraisers shall make before any qualified person to administer
oath, the following oath or affirmation: I do solemnly swear or affirm to truly, and without fear or
partiality, and to the best of my ability, value justly the improvements I am called upon to appraise.
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
The persons thus designated or called upon by the parties interested to make the appraisement,
shall proceed to made the appraisement under forfeiture of a fine of one hundred dollars in case of
refusal to act, unless for reasons satisfactory to the court before which the suit is brought for the
recovery of the fine. The fine shall be collectible by the parish attorney, as in case of any other fine,
and when collected, shall be for the benefit of the parish school fund of the parish in which the
parties prosecuted may reside, and the parish attorney shall bring suit when requested by the party
aggrieved, under penalty of forfeiture of his commission.
R.S. 47:2224. Redemption of adjudicated property
If the owner or any person interested personally or as heir, legatee, creditor or otherwise, in any
lots or lands bid in for and adjudicated to the state, as long as the title thereto is in the state or in any
of its political subdivisions, or if not heretofore contracted to be sold by such subdivisions, shall pay
to the treasurer of the state, the taxes, interests and costs and five per centum (5%) penalty thereon,
with interest at the rate of one per centum (1%) per month until redeemed, the Register of the State
Land Office, upon production of the treasurer's receipt, shall execute and deliver to such person a
certificate of the same under the seal of his office, which, when duly recorded in the office of the
recorder of mortgages of the parish wherein said property is situated together with the name of the
person redeeming the same, shall be held and taken as evidence of the redemption of such land or
lands; provided that in all cases where two or more lots or parcels of land, having been assessed as a
whole without distinguishing to the state, the owner, or any person interested personally, or as heir,
legatee, creditor or otherwise, may redeem a lot or lots or parcels of such ground by paying to the
treasurer the proportionate taxes due thereon, together with interest, costs, and five per centum (5%)
penalty thereon, with interest at the rate of one per centum (1%) per month until such redemption. In
order to determine and ascertain the amount of taxes, interests, costs and penalties due on such lot or
lots or parcels of land as are to be redeemed, the person desiring to redeem shall secure a certificate
signed by the assessor and approved by the tax collector of the parish in which the property at issue
is located, showing the proportion of taxes due on the lot or lots or parcels of land in question; and
the treasurer is authorized to receive such proportion of taxes, interest, costs and penalties so
established to be due, as aforesaid. The Register of the State Land Office, upon production of the
treasurer's receipt evidencing the payment of such proportion, shall forthwith execute and deliver to
the person redeeming a certificate of redemption, which, when duly recorded in the conveyance
office of the parish wherein the redeemed property is located, with the name of the person redeeming
the same, shall be held and taken as evidence of the redemption of such lot or lots or parcels of land
as is described in such certificate; the amount paid shall be entered upon the records of lands by the
Register of the State Land Office, who shall also immediately notify the assessor of the parish
wherein the redeemed property is located, in writing, of the fact of such redemption; provided,
however, that no such certificate of redemption shall be so issued to the person redeeming until and
unless all state, parochial, district, and municipal taxes due on the property up to the date of
redemption shall have first been paid; and provided further, that all certificates issued under the
provisions of this section shall be in the name of the original owner, to inure, however, to the benefit
of any and all persons holding rights under such owner.
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Ad Valorem Tax
Upon the production of the receipt of the collector of state taxes for payment of the taxes for
which the property was adjudicated to the state in default of a bidder, duly made and bearing date
prior to the time of such adjudication, the Register of the State Land Office shall furnish the owner of
such property a quitclaim of the title of the state, cancel the sale upon the records of his office, direct
the recorder of mortgages to cancel the record of the act or deed of adjudication upon his records,
and notify the auditor in writing, who shall charge the collector with the taxes thereon, with all costs
and with twenty per centum (20%) damage, to be collected as any other money for which such
collector may be in default.
All certificates of redemption issued in the name of the original owner to inure to the benefit of
all persons holding rights under such owner to any lots or land bid in for and adjudicated to the state
and issued by the auditor or Register of the State Land Office twelve months or more after the day
the act or tax deed to the state was filed for record in the conveyance office are valid and binding
upon the state.
All certificate of redemption of lands issued by the Register of the State Land Office, the title of
which lands, at the time the certificate issued, was in the name of the state or in that of any of its
political subdivisions, which certificates of redemption are otherwise issued in compliance with the
provisions of this section shall, if duly recorded in the office of the recorder of mortgages of the
parish wherein said lands are situated, be held and taken as evidence of the full and complete
redemption of such lands, and as legal an valid.
In addition to the above methods of redemption, the tax debtor, heir, legatee, creditor or
otherwise, may redeem any property which has been adjudicated to the state for nonpayment of taxes
by paying to the Register of the State Land Office the actual cash value of the property in lieu of all
taxes, interest and penalties due thereon up to the year of redemption. The actual cash value will be
determined by the assessor and president of the police jury or other governing body of the parish
wherein the land sought to be redeemed is situated, appropriate resolution and the Louisiana Tax
Commission.
The Register of the State Land Office shall issue a redemption certificate upon receipt of the
amount determined to be the actual cash value of the property and shall withhold therefrom the cost
of adjudication. The balance of the amount collected shall be paid by the Register of the State Land
Office to the parish tax collector of the parish where the land is situated and he shall distribute same
to the various taxing bodies in the proportion that the amount of taxes levied for the account of each
of them for the year such property was adjudicated bears to the total amount received by him.
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
No certificate of redemption shall be issued by the Register of the State Land Office under
authority of this Section except upon proof of the interest of the person applying therefor, made to
appear by due proof showing his interest in the redemption thereof as owner, heir, legatee, creditor or
otherwise.
R.S. 47:2225. Redemption of adjudicated property; Orleans parish
Redemptions of real estate situated in the parish of Orleans, which has been adjudicated to the
state for the nonpayment of taxes due to the city of New Orleans and still subject to redemption, shall
be made and effected through the commissioner of public finance of the city of New Orleans or his
duly authorized deputy or assistants.
R.S. 47:2226. Annulment of tax sales; generally
No sale of property for taxes shall be set aside except as provided in Section 25 of Article VII of
the constitution of 1974. Nothing in this Section shall be construed so as to affect in any way, the
principle that as to a tax debtor-owner in possession, prescription does not begin against him and in
favor of the tax title purchaser until such tax debtor-owner has been first dispossessed.
R.S. 47.2226. Article 7, Section 25 of the Constitution of 1974 provides that the validity of a tax sale
may not be attacked after five (5) years unless this prescriptive period has been interrupted by
debtor's physical possession of property.
R.S. 47:2227. Procedure for annulment; adjudicated property
Any person shall have due recourse against the state for the annulment of void sales to the state
for unpaid taxes. Suits shall be instituted in the district court of the parish in which the property
affected is situated, and all citations and other legal process shall be made, in the parish of Orleans,
on the state tax collector; outside the parish of Orleans, on the sheriff as ex-officio tax collector of
the parish where the property is located in the manner and form prescribed by law for service of
citation and other process. The Attorney General or any attorney appointed under existing statutes
shall represent the tax collector in the enforcement of the collection of taxes, and shall represent and
defend the state in such suits as may be brought.
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Ad Valorem Tax
R.S. 47:2228. Procedure to quiet tax titles
After the lapse of three years from the date of recording the tax deed in the conveyance records of the
parish where such property is situated, the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, may institute suit by petition and
citation as in ordinary actions against the former proprietor or proprietors of the property, in which petition
must appear a description of the property, mention of the time and place of the sale and name of officer who
made same, reference to page of record book and date of recording tax deed, notice that petitioner is owner of
the said property by virtue of said tax sale, and notice that the title will be confirmed unless a proceeding to
annul is instituted within six months from date of service of the petition and citation. This suit shall be brought
in the parish where the property is situated unless it lies in two or more parishes, in which case this suit may be
instituted in either of such parishes. The petition and citation shall be served as in ordinary suits; provided,
that if the former proprietor be a nonresident of the state, or unknown, or his residence be unknown, the court
shall appoint a curator ad hoc to represent him and receive service, and said curator shall receive for his
services a reasonable fee to be fixed by the court in each suit, the same to be taxed as costs of suit. After the
lapse of six months from the date of service of petition and citation, if no proceeding to annul the sale has been
instituted, judgment shall be rendered quieting and confirming the title.
In all cases where tax titles have been quieted by prescription of five years under the provisions of Section
25 of Article VII of the Constitution of 1974, the purchaser or his heirs or assigns may, if he or they so desire,
either obtain a judgement of the court confirming the title by suit in the manner and form as hereinabove set
out, except that the delay for answer shall be ten days instead of six months, or the purchaser or his heirs or
assigns may, at his or their option, quiet the title by monition proceeding, as provided by law relative to
sheriffs’ sales and tax sales; provided that the failure to bring suit shall in no manner affect such prescriptive
titles.
Nothing in this Section shall be construed to affect in any way, the principle that as to a tax debtor-owner
in possession, prescription does not begin against him and in favor of the tax title purchaser until such tax
debtor-owner has been first dispossessed.
R.S. 47:2228.1. Form of proceeding to quiet tax title
A. The form of proceeding to quiet titles to property purchased from the state, or any political subdivision
thereof, which property had been previously adjudicated to the state or a political subdivision thereof
for nonpayment of taxes, shall be as follows:
After the recordation of the patent or deed in the conveyance records of the parish where such property
is situated, the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, may institute suit by petition and citation as in ordinary
actions against the former owner of the property who was the record owner of the property at the time
of the adjudication of the property to the state or any political subdivision thereof for nonpayment of
taxes, in which petition must appear a description of the property, mention of the adjudication to the
state or a political subdivision thereof, reference to the book and page of the conveyance records in
which the deed of said adjudication has been recorded and the date of recordation , mention of the sale
by the state or its political subdivision of said adjudicated property and reference to the book and page
of the conveyance records in which the patent or deed of sale by the state or its political subdivision
has been recorded and the date of recordation, notice that petitioner is owner of said property by virtue
of said patent or deed of sale by the state or its political subdivision or by virtue of an acquisition
emanating from the purchaser under said patent or deed of sale by the state or its political subdivision,
and praying that the title to the said property be confirmed and quieted.
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
However, where at the time of bringing suit to quiet title, another party possesses whatever
title the record owners at the time of the adjudication of the property to the state or any
political subdivision had, by virtue of inheritance, or recorded conveyance, or chain of
recorded conveyances, originating from said record owner as aforesaid or his heirs, the said
suit shall be instituted against this party or his heirs.
B. This suit shall be brought in the parish where the property is situated unless it lies in two or
more parishes, in which case this suit may be instituted in any one of such parishes.
C. The petition and citation shall be served as in ordinary suits; provided, that if said former
record owner be a non-resident of the state, or unknown, or his residence be unknown, or if it
be not known whether said owner be alive or dead, or if it be known that said owner is dead
but his widow in community and/or heirs are non-residents of the state or unknown or their
residence be unknown, or if another person possesses whatever title the record owner had as
set forth in Subsection A, and said person be a non-resident of this state, or unknown, or if
another person possesses whatever title the record owner had as set forth in Subsection A,
and said person be a non-resident of this state, or unknown or if his residence be unknown, or
if it be not known whether said party be alive or dead, or if it be known that said party is dead
but his widow in community or his heirs are non-residents of the state or unknown, or their
residences be unknown, then the court shall appoint a curator ad hoc to represent him or his
widow in community and/or his heirs upon whom service of the petition and citation shall be
made, and said curator shall receive for his services a fee to be fixed by the court, the same to
be taxed as costs of suit.
D. The filing in evidence of a certified copy of the deed of the adjudication to and the patent or a
certified copy thereof, issued by the state or any political subdivision thereof shall be prima
facie proof of the validity and regularity of said adjudication and said patent.
E. If the suit to quiet title is filed more than five years after the date of registration of the deed of
the adjudication to the state or any political subdivision thereof, for non-payment of taxes, in
the conveyance records of the parish in which the property is located, and more than five
years since the record owner or his heirs or assigns or heirs of said assigns as aforesaid have
had physical possession of said property, the only defense available to the defendant shall be
proof by him of the payment of the taxes for which the property was adjudicated to the state
or any political subdivision thereof prior to the date of said adjudication or redemption
subsequent to said adjudication. In all cases there shall be a prima facie presumption that the
defendant has not had physical possession of the said property from the date of the
registration in the conveyance records of the deed to the state or any political subdivision as
aforesaid.
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Ad Valorem Tax
F. The filing of the above suit shall not be mandatory; and the failure to bring said suit in no
manner shall affect the validity of title to property purchased from the state or any political
subdivision thereof, which property had been previously adjudicated to the state or a political
subdivision thereof for non-payment of taxes.
R.S. 47:2229. Tax deeds issued before 1880
A tax deed to the state made prior to 1880 under an assessment in the name of one not the owner
is invalid and of no effect where the state has never parted with the tide acquired under such tax
deed, and where the property described in such tax deed has, for as long as twenty-five years
subsequent to the date of the tax sale, been assessed to the owner and the taxes paid thereon. The
district court shall have jurisdiction to order the cancellation of such deed after trial of a rule, filed by
any party at interest, upon the clerk of the district court or the recorder of mortgages, as the case may
be.
R.S. 47:2230. Ratification of redemptions made prior to August 1, 1954.
All tax redemptions made by payment of the money, including taxes, penalties, interests and
costs of redemption to the sheriff and ex-officio tax collector of the state of Louisiana in the parish
wherein the property redeemed is located, for the purpose of redeeming the property from tax
purchasers at tax sales where the payments were made prior to August 1, 1954, are hereby ratified
and confirmed.
CHAPTER 5
PART III
TAX SALES & REDEMPTIONS
R.S. 47:2251. Parish where property is located substituted for the state
A. With respect to delinquent taxes on immovable property for 1974 and subsequent years,
in all procedures for the collection of delinquent taxes provided in Parts I and II of this
Chapter, including but not limited to R.S. 47:2186, in which the state is designated as the
adjudicatee there shall be substituted for the state the parish where the property is located.
B. For the limited purposes of the three-year redemptive period stated in Article VII, Section 25
of the Constitution of Louisiana, the adjudication of property to a political subdivision
pursuant to R.S. 47:2186 shall be deemed a tax sale and governed by the procedures of
R.S. 47:2183 relative to the commencement of the three-year redemptive period. With
respect to any tax adjudications which occurred prior to August 1, 1994 regarding property
that had not been subsequently sold by the political subdivision prior to August 1, 1994, any
party with a vested or contingent interest in property adjudicated to a political subdivision
shall be allowed to exercise its redemptive rights within three years from the date provided
for in R.S. 47:2183 or within one year of August 1, 1994, whichever is longer.
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
R.S. 47.-2251. Section 33:2841 provides that political corporations (municipalities) may also
enforce the collection of taxes due them within the time and in the manner provided for the collection
of taxes due the state.
R.S. 47:2252. Adjudication to the parish where the property is located
All procedures for the collection of delinquent taxes on immovable property for 1974 and
subsequent years shall be in the name of the parish where the property is located and adjudication of
the property for nonpayment of such taxes shall be to said parish.
R.S. 47:2253. Register of state land office continued as administrator
With respect to property adjudicated to any parish for nonpayment of taxes for the year 1974 and
thereafter, the register of the state land office shall continue to administer and manage the property in
the same manner and to the same extent as now provided by law for the administration and
management of property previously adjudicated to the state. Administration and management for
this purpose, includes without limitation, all procedures for redemption or cancellation of the
property after adjudication to the parish and sale thereof after the redemptive period has expired to
the end that uniformity of procedures shall be effected.
R.S. 47:2254. Duties of state tax collector for the city of New Orleans delegated
All duties provided in Parts I & II of this Chapter for the state tax collector in respect to the
collection of delinquent taxes in Orleans Parish, shall, with respect to delinquent taxes for 1974 and
subsequent years, be performed by the state tax collector for the city of New Orleans or his successor
as provided by law. In addition to the functions, powers and duties vested in the state tax collector
for the city of New Orleans by the provisions of this Part, the state tax collector or his successor shall
have and exercise the power and authority to contract with the City of New Orleans to utilize the
services and personnel of the City of New Orleans to assist him in the performance of his duties
including the issuance of tax researches as provided by Section 21 of Article XIV of the Constitution
of 1921, the handling of tax sales and redemptions of property as provided by Section 11 of Article X
of the Constitution of 1921 and the performance and/or discharge of such other duties, functions and
responsibilities provided by law as the state tax collector or his successor may deem necessary and
proper. The contract between the state tax collector or his successor and the city of New Orleans as
hereinabove provided for shall contain such terms and provisions as shall be deemed necessary,
proper and advisable.
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Ad Valorem Tax
R.S. 47:2255. Duties of state treasurer delegated
All duties provided in Parts I and II of this Chapter for the state treasurer in respect to receipt and
distribution of the proceeds of the redemption and sale of immovable property adjudicated for
delinquent taxes for 1974 and subsequent years, shall be performed by the parish in which the
property is located.
R.S. 47:2256. Intent of part
It is the intent of this part to continue, with respect to the collection of delinquent taxes on
immovable property for 1974 and subsequent years, the procedures provided by law in Parts I and II
of this Chapter except to the extent modification is necessary to designate the parish where the
property is located as the taxing authority instead of the state and as adjudicatee in the event
adjudication is necessary for the collection thereof.
R.S. 47:2257. Adjudication for nonpayment of taxes for 1973
It is specifically provided, however, that collection of delinquent taxes on immovable property
for 1973 shall be by adjudication to the state under provisions of Parts I and II hereof except that
recognition is hereby made that such adjudication shall be for the benefit of the parish where the
property is located and shall be valid in all respects.
R.S. 47:2258. Parish or municipality claim for full administration and ownership of property
A. With respect to property adjudicated to a parish or municipality more than three years
previously under the provisions of this Part for nonpayment of taxes and needed for a public
purpose, said parish or municipality may, after compliance with this Section, claim full
ownership and administration of such particularly described property and remove same from
the administration or management otherwise provided by this Part.
B. The parish or municipality shall declare by ordinance duly enacted after public
promulgation that a certain particularly described property meeting the criteria of Subsection
A of this Section is needed for a valid public purpose such as would give rise to an
expropriation. Upon enactment thereof, the parish or municipality shall by written act
declare its intention to acquire said property free of any other administration and assuming all
liability therefor.
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Title 47 Statute & Regulation
C. A copy of said act and ordinance shall be forwarded to the administering agency described in
R.S. 47:2253. Upon receipt of same and verification of the fact that three years or more have
elapsed since the tax adjudication, the administrator shall issue a letter or receipt canceling
his agency's administration and forward same to the parish or municipality. Said letter or
receipt may, at the administrator's option, include notice of waivers of any liability and
waivers of warranty of title or otherwise. Upon issuing same, the administrator shall remove
said property from his inventory or control and any rights or any alleged tax debtor or
otherwise shall thereafter be asserted directly against the parish or municipality.
D. The written act described in Subsection B of this Section may list the last known owners prior
to tax adjudication or any other pertinent parties. Such act shall be registered in the
conveyance records of the parish and the clerk shall index the names of any such listed
parties as vendors. Any irregularity by the clerk or in good faith by the parish or municipality
shall not void the procedures. Upon registering said act together with a copy of the above
described ordinance and letter or receipt by the administrator, the parish or municipality shall
be the owner in fee title free of any administration otherwise called for by this Part.
E. A parish or municipality may, by contract with the administering agency as authorized by
local ordinance and approval of the agency, assume the administration of property previously
adjudicated to a parish or municipality and over which there is no impending claim,
application, lawsuit, or other notice for redemption, purchase, or correction of tax sale. The
agency shall keep on file for a reasonable time a copy of the contract and ordinance for
public inspection and the parish or municipality and agency shall comply with the previous
Subsections hereof by analogy to the extent applicable. The contract may apply to particular
property or to any class of property or even all properties eligible.
R.S. 47:2259. Authority of parish or municipality to establish servitude; procedure
A.
Notwithstanding the fact that the duty of administering property adjudicated for
nonpayment of taxes is imposed on the state land office by R.S. 47:2253, the parish or
municipality may maintain apparent servitude over adjudicated property and may, after the
time for redemption provided in Article VII, Section 25 of the Constitution, declare the
existence of any public servitude as by destination of the owner regardless of whether the
servitude is apparent or nonapparent.
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Ad Valorem Tax
B. A public servitude by destination of the owning parish or municipality may be declared in
writing upon authorization by ordinance duly enacted after public promulgation. A copy of
the ordinance and written act shall be forwarded to the state land office and shall be noted by
the office as an encumbrance on ownership. The ordinance and act may be registered in the
conveyance records of the parish and may show the name of any prior owners of the property
for indexing as vendor.
C. In any event in which a servitude has been declared in accordance with this Section and the
property is thereafter redeemed, the owning parish or municipality shall compensate the
redeeming owner for the value of the servitude declared, which compensation shall be in
accordance with the provisions of Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution. Value shall be
determined as of the date on which the ordinance and act are filed for registry as required by
Subsection B of this Section.
R.S. 47:2260. Sheriff of parish where land is adjudicated as administrator
With respect to property adjudicated to any parish for nonpayment of taxes for the year 1974 and
thereafter, the sheriff of the parish shall administer and manage the property in the same manner and
to the same extent as now provided by law for the administration and management of property
previously adjudicated to the parish and administered by the Department of Natural Resources,
division of state lands. Administration and management for this purpose include, without limitation,
all procedures for redemption or cancellation of the property after adjudication to the parish. During
the redemptive period, the parish shall not be considered the owner of the property and shall not be
liable to any person who enters upon the property for
damages or any injury, death, or loss which occurs while on the property unless such damage, injury,
or death was caused by the intentional act or gross negligence of the parish. Nor shall the parish be
liable for any maintenance or demolition costs incurred by the municipality or other political
subdivision during the redemptive period. At the expiration of the redemptive period, a list of
properties not redeemed or canceled shall be forwarded to the Department of Natural Resources,
division of state lands in order that the state, as owner, may lease, transfer, or sell the property as
provided by law. At that time, the governing authority of the parish or the municipality may request
that the division of state lands commence proceeding to sell the property, and within sixty days of
that notification, the division of state lands shall comply with such request. The provisions of this
Section shall not apply to the parish of Orleans.
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R.S. 47:2261. Immovable property; adjudication to political subdivision; procedure for sale
A. The procedure to sell and the effect of a post-adjudication sale of unredeemed immovable
property adjudicated to a political subdivision shall be governed by R.S. 33:2861 et seq., this
Chapter, or as otherwise provided for by law.
B. (1) At least sixty days prior to the post-adjudication sale, the political subdivision shall cause
notice to be given to the owner, the mortgagee, and any other person who may have a vested
or contingent interest in the property, or who has filed a request for notice as provided in
Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, as indicated in the mortgage records, conveyance records,
probate and civil suit records of the parish in which the property is located. No further
notification shall be required upon any person who acquires a vested or contingent interest
subsequent to the recordation of the notice provided herein in the conveyance records of the
parish in which the property is located. The notice required herein shall be sufficient, and it
shall not be necessary to determine whether notice of the tax sale was given.
(2) Any person desiring to be notified in the event specific immovable property will be
subject to a post-adjudication sale, may file a request for the notice provided in Paragraph (1)
of this Subsection in the mortgage records of the parish where the immovable property is
located. The request for notice shall state the legal description of the immovable property,
the owner of the property, and the name and address of the person desiring notice. The
person desiring notice shall pay the sum of five dollars to the sheriff, for deposit to the
sheriffs general fund, to defray the cost of providing the notice. However, in the event the
request for notice established herein is combined with a request for notice of seizure
governed by R.S. 13:3886, the person requesting notice shall pay the sheriff the single fee
established by law for the request for notice of seizure.
C. At any moment before the post-adjudication sale, the property may be redeemed by the tax
debtor, his heir, administrator, executor, assignor, or successor upon payment:
(1) To the tax collector of the parish or municipality of all taxes, interest, costs, and
penalties due and owing at that time.
(2) To the appropriate political subdivision of all charges imposed pursuant to R.S. 33:1236
and paving and other local improvement assessments due upon the property, including all
interest, costs, and penalties, whether same accrued prior to or since the date the property was
adjudicated.
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Ad Valorem Tax
(3) To the appropriate political subdivision of all costs that may have been advanced by it or
charged by it in connection with any request for a post-adjudication sale conducted pursuant
to this Part.
D. A political subdivision shall notify the tax collector of the parish or the municipality of all
requests for post-adjudication sale conducted pursuant to this Part. Once
notified the tax collector shall not allow the property to be redeemed
without first securing confirmation from the political subdivision that all
sums due, in accordance with Subsection C of this Section, have been
paid.
R.S. 47:2262. Post adjudication sale; redemption by tax-debtor
A. (1) A tax-debtor shall not utilize the post adjudication sale procedures in R.S.47:2261 to
extinguish preexisting mortgages, liens, privileges, and other encumbrances of the
immovable property.
(2) Nothwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, when a tax-debtor participates in a
post adjudication disposition during or subsequent to expiration of the three-year redemptive
period, it will be treated as a redemption and the tax-debtor will be required to pay all taxes
and costs in accordance with all laws applicable to redemptions. If the tax indebtedness on
the property is paid pursuant to the procedures in R.S. 47:2261, all mortgages, liens,
privileges, and other encumbrances affecting the property prior to the sale shall remain in full
force and effect with the same validity, priority, and enforceability as if the post adjudication
sale had not occurred.
B. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, if subsequent to the expiration of the
three-year redemptive period, the tax-debtor, owner, or any person interested personally or as
heir, legatee, or otherwise in any immovable property adjudicated to a political subdivision,
desires to extinguish his tax indebtedness, he shall pay all accrued taxes and costs in
accordance with the laws applicable to redemptions, provided the title to the adjudicated
immovable property remains in the political subdivision; in such case the payment shall be
treated as a redemption. If the property is so redeemed pursuant to this Subsection, all
mortgages, liens, privileges, and other encumbrances affecting the property prior to the
redemption shall remain in effect with the same validity, priority, and enforceability as if the
tax adjudication had not occurred.
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AD VALOREM TAX REGULATIONS
LOUISIANA REVISED STATUTES TITLE 33
CHAPTER 6
PART II
SUBPART E
TAXATION & FISCAL AFFAIRS
LEVY AND COLLECTION OF TAXES
PROPERTY ADJUDICATED TO
R.S. 33:2861. Collection of taxes or assessments on property adjudicated to parish or
municipality
Whenever property has been adjudicated to any parish or municipality, including the city of New
Orleans, for unpaid taxes, charges imposed pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, or paving or other
improvement assessments, the parish or municipality may enforce the collection of the taxes, charges
imposed pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, or paving or other local improvement assessments in the manner
provided in this Subpart.
R.S. 33:2861 Revised Statute 33:1236 contains a list of powers of parish governing authorities.
R.S. 33:2862. Suit to obtain possession of property adjudicated to parish or municipality
The parish or municipality may, immediately after the recordation in the conveyance office of the
parish of the proces verbal of the adjudication, institute a suit in any court of competent jurisdiction,
determined by the amount of the taxes, charges imposed pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, and paving or
other local improvement assessments for which the adjudication was made, to obtain possession of
the adjudicated property. The suit shall be tried by preference over all other civil suits both in the
lower and appellate courts and shall be prosecuted without costs of court to the parish or
municipality. However, the parish or municipality shall, whenever revenue is received from the
adjudicated property as provided in this Subpart, pay the court costs out of the first revenue received.
R.S. 33:2863. Order of seizure and possession
Upon the presentation of a certified copy of the recorded proces verbal of the adjudication, after
ten days notice to the owner of record, and proper hearing, the judge shall grant an order of seizure
and possession, commanding the sheriff or constable to seize the adjudicated property and place the
parish or municipality in actual possession thereof.
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Title 33 Statute & Regulation
R.S. 33:2864. Leasing property; use of income to pay taxes or assessments; redemption of
property; certificates; costs
A. The parish or municipality, through its tax collector, upon taking or being placed in
possession by judgment of court, may, without the necessity of public letting, lease or rent
the property and collect the rentals therefrom. The parish or municipality shall apply the
rentals and revenue first to the payment of all costs of court incurred by the proceeding.
Thereafter all income from rentals shall be applied against any taxes, charges imposed
pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, or paving or other local improvement assessments due against the
property. When all of the obligations have been paid in full the parish or municipality shall
issue a proper certificate of redemption and surrender its possession of the property.
Whenever any property has been adjudicated to a parish or municipality for the full amount
of the past and future installments of paving or other local improvement assessments, the
owner of the property may be permitted, upon written request, to redeem same by paying the
past due and current installments only, together with interest, costs, and penalties, in which
event the remaining and future installments of such charges shall then be collected as they
fall due, and the lien supporting same shall remain unaffected and shall be valid and effective
against the property until fully paid.
B. The payment required for the redemption of immovable property adjudicated herein to a
purchaser for taxes or local assessments may be made to the purchaser, to the parish or
municipal tax collector making the sale, or to his successor in office. Upon payment to the
parish or municipal tax collector making the sale, or to his successor in office, the said parish
or municipal tax collector or his successor in office, as the case may be, shall immediately
execute a certificate of redemption of the property sold, in which receipt of the redemption
payment shall be acknowledged, and the property shall be declared duly redeemed to the tax
debtor. It shall be the further duty of the tax collector, or his successor in office, to deliver
the said certificate of redemption to the party redeeming the property, and to cause notice of
said redemption to be entered on the records of his office. All fees and costs in connection
with the issuance of the said certificate of redemption shall be paid by the party redeeming.
R.S. 33:2864.1 Sale of property by certain municipalities
A. The governing authority of a municipality with a population of greater than four hundred fifty
thousand persons as of the most recent federal decennial census, through its tax collector,
may sell the property and collect the proceeds therefrom.
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Ad Valorem Tax
D. The governing authority of the municipality shall by ordinance establish conditions for the
sale of property. The ordinance shall provide as follows:
(1) The adjudicated property shall be appraised by a qualified appraiser. At least thirty days
prior to the sale, the municipality shall cause notice of the appraised value and the intent to
sell to be given to the owner of record, to any person having legally protected property
interests in such property whose name and address can be reasonably ascertained, and to any
person who has filed a request for notice in the mortgage records of the parish in which the
property is located. Any party receiving notice has fifteen days within which to conduct an
appraisal. If the appraised value is in conflict with the original appraisal, a third appraisal
may be conducted to resolve the issue of the fair market value of the property. The
negotiated sale price shall not be less than the final appraised value of the property.
(2) The property may be sold to a nonprofit organization which is tax exempt pursuant to
Section 501c(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or to a qualified first-time home buyer,
provided that the purchaser shall agree to renovate the property in accordance with
procedures provided by ordinance.
The municipality shall by ordinance establish
procedures to identify and quality first-time home buyers.
C. The provisions of R.S. 33:2870 through 2876 shall apply to a sale of property pursuant to this
section.
R.S. 33:2865. Service upon curator ad hoc; contingent fund for payment of costs
In any case in which the sheriff or constable is unable to locate the owner of record of the
adjudicated property for the purpose of serving notice as above provided, service shall be made upon
a curator ad hoc appointed by the judge to represent the owners as in cases of absentees. The fee of
the curator ad hoc is fixed at the sum of five dollars. The parish or municipality, for the purpose of
carrying out R.S. 33:2861 through R.S. 33:2876, shall provide a contingent fund created from the
revenues received from the properties adjudicated to it for taxes, charges imposed pursuant to R.S.
33:1236, and paving, or other local improvement assessments, out of which shall be paid those costs
incurred in the enforcement of R.S. 33:2861 through R.S. 33:2876, other than court costs provided
for in R.S. 33:2862 and R.S. 33:2864.
R.S. 33:2866. Sale after expiration of redemption period
The parish or municipality may, after the expiration of the period fixed by law for the
redemption of the adjudicated property, sell the property in the manner and on the terms provided in
this Subpart.
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Ad Valorem Tax
R.S. 33:2866.1
commission
Sale of property adjudicated to parish or municipality; realtor’s
A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a parish or municipality may pay
a real estate broker commission to a real estate broker upon the offer and acceptance to purchase and
sell property that has been adjudicated to a parish or municipality for nonpayment of taxes, which the
broker has assisted the parish or municipality in selling.
B. The commission shall be paid from the proceeds of the sale of the tax-adjudicated property,
and the fee or commission shall not exceed the following:
(1) Land or acreage: Ten percent of final sales price.
(2) Land and dwelling: Six percent of final sales price.
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Title 33 Statute & Regulation
R.S. 33:2867. Advertising sale; continuing unfinished sales
Whenever the parish or municipality desires to sell any of the adjudicated property, either for
taxes, charges imposed pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, or paving or other local improvement assessments,
the sale shall be made only after advertisement in the official journal of the parish or municipality
once a week for four weeks, said advertisement shall be paid for by the parish or municipality
desiring to sell the property. The sale shall be made not sooner than thirty days after the date of the
publication of the first notice. The advertisement shall be complete notice to all persons in any
manner interested in the property. No other notice shall be required. The advertisement shall be in
the name of the party in whose name the property was adjudicated as well as in the name of the
owner of record. If sales advertised to take place on a special day are not completed on that day, the
sales shall be continued over from day to day until they are completed.
R.S.2867.1. Procedure for sales initiated by individuals
A. Whenever any person desires to purchase any unredeemed property adjudicated to a
municipality or parish for unpaid taxes due, for charges imposed pursuant to
R.S. 33:1236, or for paving or other local improvement assessments, and upon a
determination that the property of interest is not needed for a public purpose, he shall deposit
with the agency designated by the local governing authority, an amount sufficient to cover
the expenses of the sale including advertising, appraisals, and other costs associated with said
sale as evidence of good faith in the application.
B. The director of the designated agency, his equivalent, or a duly authorized agent of either
shall determine the amount of money to be deposited and shall make the determination in the
manner provided in the Administrative Procedure Act.
C. Should such applicant at the sale herein provided for fail to purchase such property
the money so deposited shall be returned to him; provided that if no one at the sale bids
up to the minimum price provided in this subpart, then such money shall be retained to pay
the expense of the sale, and money remaining after the expenses are paid shall be returned to
the depositor.
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Ad Valorem Tax
R.S. 33:2868. Minimum acceptable bid; adjudication to tax debtor or his representative on
payment of taxes and assessments
A. The property shall be adjudicated to the last and highest bidder for cash, payable in
current money of the United States, at the time of the adjudication. The governing body of
the parish or municipality may appoint a committee of recognized and qualified realtors to
appraise and value the property subject to the final approval of the governing body. If the
governing body elects to have the property appraised, no bid shall be accepted which is less
than two-thirds of the appraised value. If no appraisal is requested by the governing body
then no bid shall be accepted or sale made for lesser amount than the total amount for which
the property was adjudicated, including all interest, costs, penalties, and subject to any state,
parish, and levee district taxes and to all subsequent taxes and paving or other local
improvement charges.
B. At any moment before the actual adjudication takes place, whether the property was
appraised or not, if the tax debtor, his heir, administrator, executor, assign, or successor, pays
to the tax collector of the parish or municipality all taxes, charges imposed pursuant to R.S.
33:1236, or paving or other local improvement assessments due upon the property, including
all interest, costs, penalties, taxes, charges imposed pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, or paving or
local improvement assessments which have accrued since the date when the property was
adjudicated to the parish or municipality, the adjudication shall be made by the tax collector
of the parish or municipality to the tax debtor, his heirs, administrator, executor, assign, or
successor, as the case may be, by preference over all other bidders, though they may have bid
larger sums.
C. The tax collector making the sale shall deliver to the purchaser who has complied with his
bid by paying the price of the adjudication to him the deed of sale executed before the city
notary, who shall charge therefor the price of five dollars plus the cost of recordation of the
deed.
R.S. 33:2869. Appraisement of property failing to sell; percentage of appraised value as
minimum price on second sale
When any property above referred to has been once advertised and offered for sale, and has failed
to sell, then the governing body of the parish or municipality may have the property appraised in
accordance with R.S. 33:2868 and advertise the property for sale a second time in the same manner
as hereinabove provided. In the second advertisement the minimum price
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Title 33 Statute & Regulation
which will be accepted for the property shall not be less then two-thirds of the appraised value of the
property as approved by the governing body. If the governing body previously had the property
appraised, the minimum price in the second advertisement shall not be less than one-third of the
appraised value. The minimum price need not equal the full tax obligation, or amount due for
charges imposed pursuant to R.S.33:1236, or paving or other local improvement assessments due by
the property to the parish or municipality. Such sales shall be made subject to any state, parish, or
levee district taxes.
R.S. 33:2870. Purchaser to obtain absolute title
A. All sales under authority of R.S. 33:2861 through 2876 shall vest in the purchaser an absolute
and perfect title to the property conveyed in the deed of sale, without any claim thereto by any
former owner, and free of all mortgages, liens, privileges and encumbrances whatsoever, except
as provided by this Subpart.
B. The provisions of R.S.41:1338 shall not apply to property being sold pursuant to this Subpart.
R.S. 33:2871. Placing purchaser in possession of property
Upon presentation of a duly certified copy of the recorded deed of sale to any court having
jurisdiction of the value of the property, the judge shall issue an order ex parte and in chambers
directed to the sheriff or constable commanding him forthwith to seize the property described in the
deed of sale. After three days notice of the seizure to either the occupant or former owner of the
property, the sheriff or constable shall put the purchaser into possession of the property unless
enjoined by a court having jurisdiction of the property. If the property is vacant it shall only be
necessary for the sheriff or constable to put for one week, in some conspicuous or usual place, a copy
of the notice of seizure after which delay, unless enjoined, he shall put the purchaser into possession.
R.S. 33:2872. Prescription of actions attacking sale
A. All actions to annul or invalidate sales made under R.S. 33:2861 through R.S. 33:2876
for any cause whatsoever, and all actions to subject the property to any mortgage which
existed before the sale to the purchaser, shall be prescribed by the lapse of one year from the
date of the registry in the conveyance office of the deed to the purchaser.
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Ad Valorem Tax
B. All deeds to all lands which were sold by any parish under this Subpart and where the deeds
were executed by such parish to such purchasers and registered in the conveyance records of
the parishes in which sales took place, are ratified, quieted, and confirmed as legal and valid.
C. Any action to set aside or annul any sale of immovable property adjudicated to a parish for
unpaid taxes, charges imposed pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, or paving or other local
improvement assessments purported to have been made by any parish shall be prescribed by
the lapse of six months from and after September 7, 1990.
R.S. 33:2873. Price paid to be in full satisfaction of taxes and assessments
A. The price bid and paid for the property shall be in full and final payment and satisfaction of
all parish or municipal taxes, charges imposed pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, and paving or other
local improvement assessments, together with all costs thereon due and eligible at the time of
making the sale. In all cases where a parish or municipality avails itself of the privilege
granted, the purchase price paid for the adjudicated property shall be credited and applied
against the most recent taxes, charges imposed pursuant to R.S.33:1236, and paving and
other local improvement assessments due by the property. Any taxes, charges imposed
pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, and paving, or other local improvement assessments remaining
past due and unpaid at the time of making the sale shall be canceled.
B. Notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary, the tax collector making the sale shall
provide written certification that the price bid and paid is in full satisfaction of all parish and
municipal taxes and any charges imposed pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, and paving or other local
improvements remaining past due and unpaid.
R.S. 33:2874. Deed of sale; facts of which deed is prima facie or conclusive proof; proof
necessary to invalidate sale
A. As soon as the adjudications to bidders are made and complied with, a deed of sale shall be
executed to each purchaser, in authentic form, of each specific piece of property, a duly
certified copy of which deed shall be prima facie of the following facts:
(1) That the property conveyed in the deed was subject to taxation, charges imposed
pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, or paving or other local improvement assessments at the time
of the assessment.
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(2) That none of the taxes, charges imposed pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, or paving or other
local improvement assessments for which the property was adjudicated to the parish or
municipality was paid.
(3) That the property was not redeemed in the time prescribed by law.
B. The duly certified copy of the deed shall be conclusive evidence of the following facts:
(1) That the property was listed and assessed according to law.
(2) That the taxes, charges imposed pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, or paving or other local
improvement assessments were levied according to law.
(3) That the property described in the deed was adjudicated to the parish or municipality
according to law.
(4) That the property was advertised according to law.
(5) That the property was adjudicated and sold to the purchaser as stated in the deed.
(6) That all the prerequisites of the law were complied with by all the officers from the listing
of assessments of the property inclusive up to and including the execution and registry of the
deed to the purchaser.
C. Duly certified copies of the deeds shall be full proof of all facts contained therein. The proof
of payment of only a portion of the taxes, charges imposed pursuant to R.S.33:1236, or
paving or other local improvement assessments for which the property was adjudicated to the
parish or municipality, shall not in any manner affect the validity of the sale to the purchaser.
In order to invalidate the sale to the purchaser, it shall be necessary for the party attacking to
prove that all the taxes, charges imposed pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, and paving or other local
improvement assessments for all the years for which the property was adjudicated to the
parish or municipality have been paid before the adjudication to the parish or municipality, or
that the property was redeemed according to law, for all the years for which it was
adjudicated to the municipal
corporation, or that it was exempt from taxation, charges imposed pursuant to R.S. 33:1236,
or paving or other local improvement assessments for all the years for which it was
adjudicated to the parish or municipality.
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R.S. 33:2875. Payment of costs out of proceeds of sale
The parish or municipality may pay out of the proceeds of the sale all costs, including fees and
commissions due the tax collector handling the sale, incurred in enforcement of R.S. 33:2861
through R.S. 33:2876, the cost and expense of executing and registering the proces verbal of
adjudications, except deeds, and for copies of same, which shall be paid for by the purchaser in
addition to the price bid for the property.
R.S. 33:2876. Redemption by owner
The owner of the property advertised under R.S. 33:2861 through R.S. 33:2876 or any other
person interested in having it kept from sale, may, up to the day of the sale, redeem the property
upon paying the amount fixed by law for the redemption together with all additional costs incurred
by the parish or municipality.
R.S.33:2877. Parish or municipality; claim for ownership of property; public purpose
A. Whenever any property is adjudicated to a parish or municipality more than three years
previously, for nonpayment of taxes, charges pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, or paving and other
local improvement assessments, and said property is needed for a public purpose, the parish
or municipality shall declare, by ordinance duly enacted after public promulgation, that a
certain particularly described property is needed for a valid public purpose such as would
give rise to an expropriation. Upon enactment thereof, the parish or municipality shall, by
written instrument, declare its intention to acquire said property free of any other
administration by the State Land office and assuming all liability.
B. The instrument described in Subsection A of this Section may list the last known owners prior
to tax adjudication or any other interested parties. Such instrument shall be registered in the
conveyance records of the parish and the clerk shall index the names of any such listed
parties as vendors. Any irregularity made in good faith by the clerk, the parish, or the
municipality shall not void the acquisition. Upon registering said instrument together with a
copy of the above described ordinance, the parish or municipality shall acquire the property
in full ownership.
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R.S.33:2878. Authority of parish or municipality to establish servitudes; procedure
A. A parish or municipality may maintain apparent servitudes over adjudicated property and
may, after the time for redemption provided in Article VII, Section 25 of the Constitution of
Louisiana, declare the existence of any public servitude as by destination of the owner
regardless of whether the servitude is apparent or non-apparent.
B. A public servitude by destination of the owning parish or municipality shall be declared in
writing upon authorization by ordinance duly enacted after public promulgation. The
ordinance and instrument shall be registered in the conveyance records of the parish and shall
show the name of any prior owners of the property for indexing as vendor.
C. When a servitude has been declared in accordance with this Section and the property is
thereafter redeemed, the owning parish or municipality shall compensate the redeeming
owner for the value of the servitude declared, which compensation shall be in accordance
with the provisions of Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution of Louisiana. Value shall be
determined as of the date on which the ordinance and instrument are filed for registry as
required by Subsection B of this Section.
R.S.33:2879. Sale of property adjudicated to a municipality or parish; additional
authorization; certain parishes excepted
A. Notwithstanding any provisions of this Subpart to the contrary, a municipality or parish may
sell abandoned immovable property, including any improvements thereto, to an individual,
hereinafter “purchaser,” for use as his domicile in which such purchaser shall personally
reside for an uninterrupted period of at least one year, provided that:
(1) The property has been adjudicated to the municipality or parish for unpaid ad valorem
taxes, as provided in this Subpart.
(2) The period fixed by law for the redemption of the adjudicated property has expired.
(3) The property has been advertised for sale, as provided in this Subpart, and no bids were
received.
B. If the purchaser fails to live in the house for one year, the municipality, parish, or previous
owner may bring an action by summary procedure to void the sale. If the moving party
prevails, the judgment shall contain an order of eviction and the purchaser shall forfeit only
the amount paid as taxes, penalties, and interest paid as part of the purchase price. When the
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Ad Valorem Tax
moving party who is the previous owner prevails in such an action, he may recover the
property by repayment to the purchaser of the purchase price to the extent that the sale price
exceeded the taxes, penalties, and interest paid to the municipality or parish.
C. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the sale of immovable property by the
parishes of East Feliciana, East Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, and West
Feliciana.
R.S.33:2880. Sale of properties adjudicated to municipalities with a population of more than
four hundred fifty thousand persons
A. (1) Notwithstanding any provisions of this Subpart to the contrary, a municipality having a
population of more than four hundred fifty thousand persons according to the most recent
federal decennial census of record may sell abandoned immovable property, including any
improvements thereto, to an individual, hereinafter “purchaser”, for use as his domicile in
which such purchaser shall personally reside for an uninterrupted period of at least one year,
or to a qualified nonprofit organization as defined in this Section, provided that the property
has been adjudicated to the municipality for unpaid ad valorem taxes, as provided in this
Subpart. For the limited purposes of the three-year redemptive period provided in Article
VII, Section 25 of the Constitution of Louisiana, an adjudication of property to a
municipality for nonpayment of taxes shall be deemed a tax sale. In such sale to a purchaser,
preference may be granted to a person who is a first-time homeowner.
(2) The adjudicated property shall be offered for sale at auction pursuant to R.S.33:2861 et
seq. At least thirty days prior to such a sale, the municipality shall cause notice to be given to
the owner, the mortgagee, and any other person who may have a vested or contingent interest
in the property as indicated in the mortgage records, conveyance records, or probate and civil
suit records of the parish in which the property is located, or who has filed a request for
notice in the mortgage records of the parish in which the property is located, stating the legal
description of the immovable property and the name and address of the person desiring
notice. If the property fails to sell, it shall be offered for sale at the next available auction and
each succeeding auction thereafter for the amount of the highest bid made by any purchaser
or qualified nonprofit organization. After the payment of costs authorized by R.S.33:2875,
the purchase price paid for the adjudicated property shall be credited and applied in
satisfaction of all outstanding taxes, charges, assessments, liens, mortgages, privileges, and
other encumbrances secured by the property in the order of their priority as provided by law.
Any taxes, charges imposed pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, and paving or other local assessments
remaining past due and unpaid after the application of the sale proceeds shall remain the
responsibility of the previous owner of the property. Purchase of property pursuant to this
Section shall vest
in the purchaser or qualified nonprofit organization title to the property
conveyed in the deed of sale free of all liens, privileges, taxes, and encumbrances
whatsoever, except that:
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(a) The previous owner shall retain the right of redemption provided in accordance with
R.S.47:2221 et seq. and Article VII, Section 25 of the Constitution of Louisiana.
(b) If the purchaser is the previous owner or if the property is redeemed, all mortgages, liens,
privileges, taxes, and encumbrances not satisfied by the proceeds of the sale or redemption
shall remain applicable to the property.
B. (1) If the purchaser fails to personally reside in such property as his domicile for one year as
required by Paragraph A(1) of this Section, the municipality, previous owner, or qualified
nonprofit organization from which title was transferred in accordance with Subsection C of
this Section may bring an action by summary procedure to void the sale. If the moving party
prevails, the judgment shall contain an order of eviction and the purchaser shall forfeit only
the amount paid as taxes, penalties, and interest paid as part of the purchase price. When the
moving party who is the previous owner prevails in such an action, he may recover the
property by repayment to the purchaser of the purchase price, to the extent that the sale price
exceeded the taxes, penalties, and interest paid to a municipality or parish, plus the value of
any improvements made to the property by the purchaser. If the previous owner recovers the
property, all mortgages, liens, privileges, taxes, and encumbrances shall remain applicable to
the property.
(2) After the purchaser has personally resided in such property as his domicile for one year as
required by Paragraph A(1) of this Section, the purchaser shall provide to the municipality an
affidavit attesting to this period of residency, a copy of the tax bill evidencing a homestead
exemption on the property, and certificates from local electric and water utility companies
indicating the delivery and use of electrical and water service to the premises during the
period of the purchaser’s residency in the property. If the municipality determines that the
information provided is sufficient and valid proof of the residency required by Paragraph
A(1) of this Section, the municipality shall execute a document attesting that the purchaser
has satisfied such residency requirement. The purchaser shall file such document with the
office of conveyances or other appropriate municipal office. The filing of these documents
shall bar an action under Paragraph (1) of this Subsection brought later that ninety days after
the date the documents were filed.
(3) If no action has been brought pursuant to Paragraph (1) of this Subsection within a period
of five years following purchase of the property in accordance with the provisions of this
Section, any such action shall thereafter be barred.
C (1) As used in this Section, “qualified nonprofit organization” means an organization
designated as exempt from federal income tax under Section 501 (c)(3) or Section 501(c)(4)
of Internal Revenue Code whose purposes include operating transitional housing for the
homeless or encouraging individuals to purchase, renovate, rehabilitate, or occupy abandoned
housing.
(2) A qualified nonprofit organization may transfer ownership of the property only to another
qualified nonprofit organization or to a purchaser who shall personally reside in such
property as his domicile for one year as required by Paragraph A(1) of this Section, subject to
the provisions of Subsection B of this Section.
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R.S. 33:2881. Property acquired from a political subdivision; affidavit authorized
A.
The purchaser or donee of any property adjudicated to a political subdivision and
subsequently acquired from the political subdivision pursuant to this Subpart, R.S.33:2891.1
et seq., R.S.33:4711, R.S. 33:4712, R.S. 33:4720.11 et seq., or R.S. 33:4720.25 et seq. or as
otherwise provided by law, may cause to be recorded in the records of the recorder of
mortgages if the property is located in Orleans Parish and in all other parishes the official
records of the clerk of court for the parish in which the property acquired is located an
affidavit setting forth all of the following:
(1) A short description of the property.
(2) The manner in which the affiant obtained the names and addresses of persons with
potential interests in the property who were to be notified.
(3) The manner in which those persons were notified by the affiant or the manner in which
the affiant attempted to notify those persons, and the address at which notification or
attempted notification was made.
(4) The results of the notification or attempted notification.
(5) The type of instrument creating any lien, judgement, or security interest, the recordation
of that instrument, and a request that the clerk of court or recorder of mortgages cancel the
inscription of any such instrument properly identified.
(6) A statement that the affiant agrees to hold harmless the clerk of court or recorder of
mortgages for any loss or damage occasioned by the affiant’s failure to properly notify or
attempt to notify those persons to which he claims to have made or attempted notice.
B.
Such affidavit shall be self-proving and shall be conclusive proof of the matters set forth .
therein.
C.
The clerks of court or recorder of mortgages shall charge a reasonable fee for the recording
of such affidavit and the cancellation of any instruments properly identified. The clerks of
court or recorder of mortgages shall cancel any instruments properly identified.
D.
Any affidavit that identifies a person with an ownership interest in the property shall be
recorded in the conveyance records of the registrar of conveyances if the property is in
Orleans Parish and, in all other parishes, of the clerk of court for the parish in which the
property acquired is located. Any affidavit that identifies a person with a security interest in
the property shall be recorded in the mortgage records of the recorder of mortgages if the
property is located in Orleans Parish and, in all other parishes, of the clerk of court for the
parish in which the property acquired is located.
E.
The failure to record such affidavit shall not affect title to such property.
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CHAPTER 6 PART III SUBPART F
PROPERTY ADJUDICATED MORE THAN FIVE YEARS
R.S.33:2891.1
Property Adjudicated More That Five Years to Parish or Municipality.
In an effort to control the rising number of abandoned properties throughout the state and to slow
urban blight, the legislature finds it necessary to implement a mechanism by which political
subdivisions are empowered to more readily obtain and sell or otherwise dispose of abandoned
properties. The provisions of this Subpart are intended to provide a means by which political
subdivisions may revitalize economically depressed areas by placing abandoned properties back into
the economic stream of commerce. The legislature further encourages those political subdivisions
utilizing this mechanism to establish a preference for the allocation of these properties to low-income
families. The procedure created by this Subpart shall be in addition to any other procedure
authorized by law.
R.S.33:2891.2
Definitions; nonpayment of taxes deemed a tax sale
A. For the purposes of this Subpart, unless the context clearly otherwise requires, the following
words or phrases shall have the respective meaning ascribed to them in this Section:
(1) “Abandoned property” means immovable property that has been adjudicated to a political
subdivision for nonpayment of taxes, and which property is vacant or not lawfully occupied
as defined in Paragraph (4) of this Subsection.
(2) “Interested party” means the registered owner, as of the date the property was
adjudicated, shown in the conveyance records of the parish in which the property is located,
the mortgagee, and any other person who has a vested or contingent interest in the property
as shown in the mortgage records of the parish in which the property is located.
(3) (a) “Notice” means the sending of written communication to interested parties in one
of the following ways:
(i) By means of registered or certified mail, return receipt requested.
(ii) In the same manner as service of citation or other process, whether made by
sheriff, deputy sheriff, or constable.
(b) In the event that the interested parties are absent or unable to be served in accordance
with Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph, notice may be made by publication once a week
for two consecutive weeks in the official journal of the political subdivision.
(c) In addition to the notice provisions contained in Subparagraphs (a) and (b) of this
Paragraph, notice, in the form of a written communication, shall be physically posted on
the front of the abandoned property.
(4) “Vacant or not lawfully occupied” means any premises which is not actually occupied by
its owner, lessee, or other invitee, that has been left unsecured or inadequately secured from
unauthorized entry to the extent that the premises may be entered and utilized by vagrants or
other uninvited persons as a place of harborage, or any premises which by reason of
dilapidation, deterioration, state of disrepair, or other such status is otherwise detrimental to
or endangers public safety, health, or welfare.
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(5) “Valid public purpose” means the revitalization of economically depressed areas by
placing abandoned properties back into the economic stream of commerce.
B. For the limited purposes of the redemptive period stated in Article VII, Section 25 of the
Constitution of Louisiana, an adjudication of property to a political subdivision for non payment
of taxes shall be deemed a tax sale.
R.S.33:2891.3 Parish or municipality; property adjudicated more than five years; claim for
ownership of property; public sale
A. Whenever any property is adjudicated to a parish or municipality more than five years
previously for nonpayment of taxes, charges pursuant to R.S. 33:1236, or paving and other
local improvement assessments, the parish or municipality may declare, by ordinance duly
enacted, that a certain particularly described property is needed for a valid public purpose.
B. The ordinance shall list the last known owners prior to tax adjudication and any other
interested parties. A copy of the ordinance shall be registered in the conveyance records of
the parish and the clerk shall index the names of any such listed parties as vendors. Any
irregularity made in good faith by the clerk, the parish, or the municipality shall not void the
acquisition. Upon registering said ordinance the parish or municipality shall, after the delays
set forth in Subsection C of this Section, acquire the property in full ownership.
C. Political subdivisions which acquire abandoned property as provided for herein shall within
thirty days of the registration of the instrument and ordinance described in Subsection B of
this Section, give notice of the acquisition to the owners and interested parties as provided
for in R.S. 33:2881.2(A)(3). The notice required herein shall be sufficient, and it shall not be
necessary to determine whether notice of the tax sale was given. The owners or interested
parties shall have a period of one hundred twenty days from the date of recordation to contest
the acquisition by filing suit in the district court of the parish in which the property is located.
D. If no suit is filed within the time limit set forth herein, as certified by the clerk of court, the
ordinance shall become operative and cannot be contested or attacked for any reason or cause
whatsoever. The political subdivision shall acquire a good, valid, and merchantable title to
the property, subject to no encumbrance. All liens, mortgages, and other encumbrances,
including tax liens, shall be canceled by the clerk of court.
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Ad Valorem Tax
R.S.33:2891.4 Sale or donation of abandoned property; authority
A political subdivision may sell property acquired in accordance with this Subpart as provided for in
R.S. 33:4711, R.S. 33:4712, R.S. 33:2861 et seq., or as otherwise provided by law. It may donate the
property in accordance with R.S. 33:4717.3, Article VII, Section 14 of the Constitution of Louisiana,
or as otherwise provided by law. The provisions of R.S. 41:1338 shall not apply to the property
being sold or donated in accordance with this Section.
R.S.33:2891.5 Applicability
The provisions of Sections 2891.1 through 2891.4 shall apply to any tax adjudication of property
which may have occurred prior to, or which occurs on, or subsequent to August 15, 2001, provided
that a period of five or more years has elapsed between the adjudication of the property and the
enactment of the ordinance as provided in R.S. 33:2891.3
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CHAPTER 13-A SALE OF ABANDONED PROPERTY
R.S.33:4720.11 Purpose
In an effort to control the rising number of abandoned properties throughout the state and to slow
urban blight, the legislature finds it necessary to implement a mechanism by which political
subdivisions are empowered to more readily obtain and sell or otherwise dispose of abandoned
properties. The provisions of this Chapter are intended to provide a means by which political
subdivisions may revitalize economically depressed areas by placing abandoned properties back into
the economic stream of commerce. The legislature further encourages those political subdivisions
utilizing this mechanism to establish a preference for the allocation of these properties to low-income
families. The procedure created by this Chapter shall be in addition to any other procedure
authorized by law.
R.S.33:4720.12 Definitions
For the purpose of this Chapter, unless the context clearly otherwise requires or unless otherwise
defined in specific portions of this Chapter, the following words or phrases shall have the respective
meanings ascribed to them in this Section:
(1) “Abandoned property” means immovable property that has been adjudicated to a political
subdivision for nonpayment of taxes, and which property is vacant or not lawfully occupied.
The term “vacant or not lawfully occupied” shall include but not be limited to any premises
which is not actually occupied by its owner, lessee, or other invitee, and has been left
unsecured or inadequately secured from unauthorized entry to the extent that the premises
may be entered and utilized by vagrants or other uninvited persons as a place of harborage or
any premises which by reason of dilapidation, deterioration, state of disrepair, or other such
status is otherwise detrimental to or endangers public safety, health, or welfare.
(2)(a) “Notice” as applied in this Chapter, is the sending of written communication to
interested parties:
(i) By means of registered or certified mail, return receipt requested.
(ii) In the same manner as service of citation or other process, whether made by sheriff,
deputy sheriff, or constable.
(iii) By a duly authorized building inspector or other representative of the political
subdivision, as provided by ordinance.
(b) In the event that the interested parties are absent or unable to be served in accordance
with Subparagraph (2)(a) of this Section, notice may be made by publication once a week
for two consecutive weeks in the official journal of the political subdivision.
R.S.33:4720.13. Adjudication of abandoned property; sale.
For the limited purposes of the three year redemptive period stated in Article VII, Section 25
of the Constitution of Louisiana, an adjudication of property to a political subdivision for
nonpayment of taxes shall be deemed a tax sale.
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Ad Valorem Tax
R.S.33:4720.13 Adjudication of abandoned property; sale
For the limited purposes of the three-year redemptive period stated in Article VII, Section 25
of the Constitution of Louisiana, an adjudication of property to a political subdivision for
nonpayment of taxes shall be deemed a tax sale.
R.S.33:4720.14 Adjudication; recordation
Once the abandoned property is adjudicated to a political subdivision for nonpayment of
taxes, the proces verbal of the adjudication shall be recorded in the conveyance records of each
parish in which the property is located.
R.S.33:4720.15 Sale of abandoned property; authority
A. A political subdivision may sell abandoned property as provided for in R.S.33:4712,
R.S.33:2861 et seq., or as otherwise provided by law. If the post adjudication sale occurs after the
redemptive period has elapsed, the state or any political subdivision with liens which are not satisfied
by the sale price may cancel such liens contemporaneously with the sale.
B. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a political subdivision may
sell abandoned property at public or private sale. Before any such sale may be made, the governing
authority of the political subdivision shall enact an ordinance generally approving said sales. Said
ordinance shall state whether such sales shall be by public or private sale. If the ordinance states that
such sale shall or may be by private sale, the ordinance shall establish a fair and equitable policy
which shall have uniform application for determining the sale price. For purposes of the Subsection,
the sale of abandoned property shall not be considered the sale of surplus property or of property
owned by the political subdivision.
R.S.33:4720.15.1 Sale of abandoned property; Calcasieu Parish; authority
The governing authority of Calcasieu Parish may sell abandoned property as provided in
R.S.33:4711, R.S.33:2861 et seq., or as otherwise provided by law notwithstanding any provision of
law to the contrary, if the post-adjudication sale occurs after the redemptive period has elapsed, the
parish may proceed without notification to any political subdivision created by the parish governing
authority and all outstanding tax liens, assessments, or other charge of any such political subdivision
on the property shall be canceled contemporaneously with the sale.
R.S.33:4720.16 Post-adjudication sale of abandoned property
A. The purchaser at a post-adjudication sale of abandoned property shall be deemed to have
purchased the property at a tax sale and shall have the same rights, obligations, and duties
of a tax sale purchaser as provided in Chapter 5 of subtitle III of Title 47 of the Louisiana
Revised Statutes of 1950 except that the Tax debtor, his heir, administrator, executor,
assign or successor shall not have a right of redemption.
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Title 33 Statute & Regulation
B. All sales by political subdivisions under this Chapter shall be without warranty.
C. The recordation of the post-adjudication act of sale in the conveyance and mortgage
office shall, operate as a cancellation of all liens, privileges, conventional and judicial
mortgages, and other encumbrances recorded against the property sold, including the liens
and privileges for taxes, paving, and other assessments due the state or any political
subdivision thereof.
D. The provisions of R.S. 41:1338 shall not apply to property being sold pursuant to this
Chapter.
R.S.33:4720.17 Post-adjudication; notice; redemption prior to sale; payment of
all fees and charges
A. At least sixty days prior to the post-adjudication sale, the political subdivision shall cause
notice to be given to the owner, the mortgagee, and any other person who may have a
vested or contingent interest in the property, or who has filed a request for notice as
provided in Subsection B of this Section, as specifically identified in the mortgage
records or conveyance records of the parish in which the property is located. No further
notification shall be required upon any person acquiring a vested or contingent interest
subsequent to the recordation of the notice provided herein in the conveyance records of
the parish in which the property is located. The notice required herein shall be sufficient,
and it shall not be necessary to determine whether notice of the tax sale was given.
B. Any person desiring to be notified in the event specific immovable property will be
subject to a post-adjudication sale may file a request for the notice provided in
Subsection A in the mortgage records of the parish where the immovable property is
located. The request for notice shall state the legal description of the immovable
property, the owner of the property, and the name and address of the person desiring
notice. The person desiring notice shall pay the sum of five dollars to the sheriff, for
deposit to the sheriff’s general fund, to defray the cost for providing the notice.
However, in the event that the request for notice established herein is combined with a
request for notice of seizure as provided for in R.S.13:3886, the person requesting notice
shall pay the sheriff the single fee established by law for the request for notice of seizure.
C. At any moment before the post-adjudication sale, the property may be redeemed by the
tax debtor, his heir, administrator, executor, assignor, or successor upon payment:
(1) To the tax collector of the parish or municipality of all taxes, interest, costs and
penalties due and owing at that time.
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Ad Valorem Tax
(2) To the appropriate political subdivision of all charges imposed pursuant to
R.S.33:1236, paving and other local improvement assessments due upon the property,
including all interest, costs, and penalties, whether same accrued prior to or since the date
the property was adjudicated.
(3) To the appropriate political subdivision of all costs that may have been advanced by it
or charged by it in connection with any request for a post-adjudication sale conducted
pursuant to this Chapter.
D. A political subdivision shall notify the tax collector of the parish or the municipality of
all requests for post-adjudication sale conducted pursuant to this Chapter. Once notified
the tax collector shall not allow the property to be redeemed without first securing
confirmation from the political subdivision that all sums due, in accordance with
Subsection C of this Section, have been paid.
R.S.33:4720.18 Sale
A post-adjudication sale conducted pursuant to this Chapter shall transfer the property to the
purchaser free and clear of any liens or privileges. Nothwithstanding any provision of law to the
contrary, when a tax debtor participates in a post-adjudication disposition during or subsequent to
expiration of the redemptive period, it will be treated as a redemption and the tax debtor will be
required to pay all taxes and costs in accordance with all laws applicable to redemptions. However,
if the property is redeemed, all mortgages, liens, privileges, and other encumbrances affecting the
property prior to the sale shall remain in full force and effect with the same validity and priority as if
the sale had not occurred.
R.S.33:4720.19 Liability of owner
A. During the period between the adjudication and the post-adjudication sale pursuant to this
Chapter, the owner of record shall remain liable for damages to persons or property,
pursuant to R.S. 9:2800.8, and the political subdivision shall not be deemed the owner of
the property and shall not be liable to any person who enters upon the property for damages
or injury, death, or loss which occurs while on the property; for any damages or injury
sustained by any person caused by the condition of the property; or for any maintenance or
demolition costs incurred by the state or any other political subdivision during the period
between the adjudication and the post-adjudication sale.
B. Nothing herein affects the liability of the political subdivision for negligent acts affecting
the property by the political subdivision, its employees, officers, or agents.
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CHAPTER 13-B DONATION OF ABANDONED OR
BLIGHTED HOUSING PROPERTY
R.S.33:4720.25 Purpose
In an effort to control the rising number of abandoned or blighted housing properties
throughout the state and to slow urban blight, the legislature finds it necessary to implement a
mechanism by which parishes and municipalities are empowered to dispose of these abandoned or
blighted housing properties as allowed by Article VII, Section 14(B) of the Constitution of
Louisiana. The provisions of this Chapter are intended to provide a means by which parishes and
municipalities may revitalize economically depressed areas by placing these abandoned or blighted
housing properties back into the economic stream of commerce. The procedure created by this
Chapter shall be in addition to any other procedure authorized by law.
R.S.33:4720.26 Definitions
For the purposed of this Chapter, unless the context clearly otherwise requires or unless
otherwise defined in specific portions of this Chapter, the following words or phrases shall have the
meanings ascribed to them in this Section:
(1) “Abandoned or blighted housing property” means immovable property that has been
adjudicated to a political subdivision for nonpayment of taxes or which has been acquired by a
political subdivision by other means, which property is vacant or not lawfully occupied and
which can be used presently for housing or can be revitalized for housing.
(2)(a) “ Notice “ as applied in this Chapter, means the sending of written communication to
interested parties:
(i) By means of registered or certified mail, return receipt requested.
(ii) In the same manner as service of citation or other process, whether made by sheriff, deputy
sheriff, or constable.
(iii) By a duly authorized building inspector or other representative of the political
subdivision, as provided by ordinance.
(b) In the event that the interested parties are absent or unable to be served in accordance
with Subparagraph (2)(a) of this Section, notice may be made by publication once a week for
two consecutive weeks in the official journal of the political subdivision.
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Ad Valorem Tax
(3) “ Vacant or not lawfully occupied “ shall include but not be limited to any premises which
is not actually occupied by its owner, lessee, or other invitee, and has been left unsecured or
inadequately secured from unauthorized entry to the extent that the premises may be entered
and utilized by vagrants or other uninvited persons as a place of harborage or any premises
which by reason of dilapidation, deterioration, state of disrepair, or other status is otherwise
detrimental to or endangers public safety, health, or welfare.
R.S.33:4720.27 Adjudication of abandoned property; sale
For the limited purposes of the redemptive period stated in Article VII, Section 25 of the
Constitution of Louisiana, an adjudication of property to a political subdivision for nonpayment of
taxes shall be deemed a tax sale.
R.S.33:4720.28 Adjudication; recordation
Once the abandoned property is adjudicated to a political subdivision for nonpayment of taxes,
the proces verbal of the adjudication shall be recorded in the conveyance records of each parish in
which the property is located.
R.S.33:4720.29 Donation of abandoned property; authority
A. The governing authority of a municipality or parish may donate abandoned property as
provided for in R.S.33:4717.3 or as otherwise provided by law. The post-adjudication
donation shall not occur until after the redemptive period has elapsed. The governing
authority of the municipality or parish may cancel such liens and privileges for taxes,
paving and other assessments, interest, and penalties due the state or any political
subdivision as the governing authority of the municipality or parish shall deem appropriate.
The governing authority of the municipality or parish shall establish and publish a fair and
equitable policy which shall have uniform application for determining the amount of taxes,
paving and other assessments, interest, and penalties that shall be canceled in each case.
The post-adjudication donation shall state the extent to which such liens and privileges for
taxes, paving and other assessments, interest, and penalties due the state or any political
subdivision shall be canceled, and the recordation of the post-adjudication donation shall
operate as a cancellation of those liens and privileges for taxes, paving and other
assessments, interest, and penalties due the state or any political subdivision as the postadjudication donations shall indicate.
69
Title 33 Statute & Regulation
B. When a municipal governing authority or parish donates abandoned or blighted property to
a not-for-profit organization and cancels all conventional and judicial mortgages, and
waives the collection of the outstanding taxes, paving and other assessments, and related
penalty and interest charges collectively (the “Waived Delinquent Revenues”), the not-forprofit organization must fulfill the following re-sale requirements:
(1) If the not-for-profit organization serves as a developer of single family homes with the
intent to resell, the resale of the property must be to a purchaser who will be a primary
resident and the purchaser must own the home for two years.
(2) If the not-for-profit organization serves as a developer of multifamily units, the not-forprofit organization must own the property for two years.
C. If the re-sale requirements as set forth in Paragraphs (B)(1) and (2) are not met, the
purchaser shall refund the full amount of the Waived Delinquent Revenues, but not to
exceed the appraised value of the property, as determined by an appraiser licensed
pursuant to R.S. 37:3391 et seq., less the just valuation of the improvements made to the
property as determined in accordance with R.S.47:2222, 2222.1, and 2223.
D. The provisions of R.S. 41:1338 shall not apply to the property donated pursuant to this
Chapter.
R.S.33:4720.30 Post-adjudication donation of abandoned or blighted housing property
A. The donee at a post-adjudication donation of abandoned or blighted housing property
shall be deemed to have acquired the property at a tax sale and shall have the same rights,
obligations, and duties of a tax sale purchaser as provided in Chapter 5 of Subtitle III of
Title 47 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, except that the tax debtor his heir,
administrator, executor, assign, or successor shall not have a right of redemption.
B.
All donations by parishes and municipalities under this Chapter shall be without
warranty.
C. The recordation of the post-adjudication act of donation in the conveyance office shall
operate as a cancellation of all conventional and judicial mortgages and except
as
otherwise provided pursuant to R.S.33:4720.29(A) all other encumbrances recorded
against the property donated.
R.S.33:4720.31 Post-adjudication; notice
A. At least sixty days prior to the post-adjudication donation, the municipality or parish
shall cause notice to be given to the owner, the mortgagee, and any other person who may
have a vested or contingent interest in the property, or who has filed a request for notice as
provided in Subsection B of this Section, as specifically identified in the mortgage records
and conveyance records of the parish in which the property is located.
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Ad Valorem Tax
No further notification shall be required upon any person acquiring a vested or contingent
interest subsequent to the recordation of the notice provided herein in the conveyance
records of the parish in which the property is located. The notice required herein shall be
sufficient, and it shall not be necessary to determine whether notice of the tax sale was
given.
B. Any person desiring to be notified in the event specific immovable property will be
subjected to a post-adjudication donation may file a request for the notice provided in
Subsection A of this Section in the mortgage records of the Parish where the immovable
property is located. The request for notice shall state the legal description of the immovable
property, the owner of the property, and the name and address of the person desiring notice.
The person desiring notice shall pay the sum of five dollars to the sheriff, for deposit to the
sheriff’s general fund, to defray the cost of providing the notice. However, in the event that
the request for notice established herein is combined with a request for notice of seizure as
provided for in R.S. 13:3886, the person requesting notice shall pay the sheriff the single fee
established by law for the request for notice of seizure.
C. At the moment before the post-adjudication donation, the property may be redeemed by
the tax debtor, his heir, administrator, executor, assign, or successor upon payment:
(1) To the tax collector of the parish or municipality all taxes, interest, costs and penalties
due and owing at that time.
(2) To the appropriate political subdivision all charges imposed pursuant to R.S.33:1236, and
all paving and other local improvement assessments due upon the property, including all
interest costs, and penalties, whether same accrued prior to or since the date when the
property was adjudicated to the parish or municipality.
(3) To the appropriate political subdivision all costs that may have been advanced by it or
charged by it in connection with any request for a post-adjudication donation conducted
pursuant to this Chapter.
D. A political subdivision shall notify the tax collector of the parish or municipality of all
requests for post-adjudication donations conducted pursuant to this Chapter and once
notified the tax collector shall not allow the property to be redeemed without first
securing confirmation from the political subdivision that all sums due it under
Subsection C of this Section have been paid.
R.S.33:4720.32 Donation; privileges and liens
A post-adjudication donation conducted pursuant to this Chapter shall transfer the property to
the donee free and clear of any liens or privileges. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the
contrary, when a tax debtor participates in a post-adjudication disposition during or subsequent to the
expiration of the redemptive period, it will be treated as a redemption and the tax debtor will be
required to pay all taxes and costs in accordance with all laws applicable to redemptions.
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Title 33 Statute & Regulation
However, if the property is redeemed, all mortgages, liens, privileges, and other encumbrances
affecting the property prior to the sale that are not required to be paid at the time of redemption shall
remain in full force and effect with the same validity and priority as if the disposition had not
occurred.
R.S.33:4720.33 Liability of owner
A. During the period between the adjudication and the post-adjudication donation pursuant to
this Chapter, the owner of record shall remain liable for damages to persons or property,
pursuant to R.S. 9:2800.8, and the political subdivision shall not be deemed the owner of the
property and shall not be liable to any person who enters upon the property for damages or
injury, death, or loss which occurs while on the property; for any damages or injury sustained
by any person caused by the condition of the property; or for any maintenance or demolition
costs incurred by the state or any other political subdivision during the period between the
adjudication and the post-adjudication donation.
B. Nothing herein affects the liability of the political subdivision for negligent acts affecting
the property by the political subdivision, its employees, officers, or agents.
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Ad Valorem Tax
CHAPTER 13-C SALE OF ADJUDICATED VACANT LOTS;
ADJOINING LANDOWNERS
R.S.33:4720.41 Purpose
In an effort to slow urban blight by encouraging property owners to maintain vacant lots
adjoining their property, the legislature finds it necessary to implement a mechanism by which
parishes and municipalities are empowered to sell adjudicated vacant lots to adjoining landowners
who have maintained the lots. The provisions are intended to provide a means by which parishes and
municipalities may revitalize economically depressed areas by placing adjudicated vacant lots back
into the economic stream of commerce and by enabling neighbors to rebuild their communities. The
procedure created by this Chapter shall be in addition to any other procedures authorized by law.
R.S.33:4720.42 Definitions
For purposes of this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires or unless otherwise defined
in specific portions of this Chapter, the following words or phrases shall have the following
meanings:
(1) “Adjoining landowners” are any owners of adjoining property to the adjudicated vacant
lot that is the subject of sale under this Chapter.
(2) “Adjoining property” shall be the parcels of land sharing contiguous boundaries with the
adjudicated vacant lot that is the subject of sale under this Chapter.
(3) “Adjudicated Vacant Lot” shall include, but not be limited to, any undeveloped
immovable property without any buildings thereon, which is not being maintained by its
owner or an agent of its owner, and that has been adjudicated to a parish or municipality for
nonpayment of taxes.
(4) “Notice” means the sending of written communication to interested parties by:
(a) Means of registered or certified mail, return receipt requested.
(b) The same manner as service of citation or other process, whether made by a sheriff,
deputy sheriff, or constable.
(c) A duly authorized building inspector or other representative of the parish or
municipality, as provided by ordinance.
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Title 33 Statute & Regulation
R.S.33:4720.43
Adjudication of Vacant Lots; Tax Sale
For the limited purposed of the redemptive periods stated in Article VII, Sec. 25 of the
Constitution of Louisiana, an adjudication of property to a parish or municipality for nonpayment of
taxes shall be deemed a tax sale.
R.S.33:4720.44 Adjudication; Recordation
Once the abandoned property is adjudicated to a parish or municipality for nonpayment of
taxes, the proces verbal of the adjudication shall be recorded in the conveyance records of each
parish in which the property is located.
R.S.33:4720.45 Private Sale of Adjudicated Vacant Lots to Adjoining Landowners; Authority
A. The governing authority of a municipality or parish may sell an adjudicated vacant lot, by
private sale, to an adjoining landowner if such landowner undertakes open, notorious,
continuous, uninterruped, peaceable, public, and unequivocal possession of and maintains the
adjudicated vacant lot in accordance with all relevant state and local laws for a period of one
year. The sale shall not occur until the redemptive period has elapsed. The sale shall be
pursuant to R.S.33:4712, R.S.33:4720.45(B), or as otherwise provided by law.
B. The governing authority of the parish or municipality shall enact an ordinance authorizing
such private sales. The ordinance shall establish a fair and equitable policy which shall have
uniform application for determining the sale price. For the purposes of this Subsection, the
sale of adjudicated vacant lots shall not be considered the sale of surplus property or of
property owned by the parish or municipality.
C. To apply for the sale of an adjudicated vacant lot under this Chapter, the owner of the
adjoining property must produce no fewer than three sworn affidavits attesting to the
adjoining landowner’s maintenance of the adjudicated vacant lot in accordance with
Subsection A of this Section. One affidavit must be attested to by the adjoining landowner.
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Ad Valorem Tax
The other affidavits shall be from owners or lessees of property in the immediate vicinity of the
adjudicated vacant lot. The affidavits must state that the adjoining landowner has maintained
the adjudicated vacant lot in accordance with the provisions of Subsection A of this Section.
The affidavit of the owner or lessee of the property in the immediate vicinity of the adjudicated
vacant lot, must also contain a statement that the owner or lessee has been in possession for a
period of a least one year of the property owned by the owner or leased by the lessee.
D. For purposes of this Section, “immediate vicinity” shall mean any of the following:
(1) The square within which the adjudicated vacant lot is located.
(2) Properties located on the street on which the adjudicated vacant lot is located in squares
adjoining the square within which the adjudicated vacant lot is located.
(3) Properties located on the street on which the adjudicated vacant lot is located in the
square across the street from the square in which the adjudicated vacant property is located.
(4) Properties located on the street on which the adjudicated vacant lot is located in the
squares adjoining the square across the street from the square in which the vacant property
is located.
R.S.33:4720.46 Post-Adjudication sale of vacant property
A. The purchaser at a private sale of vacant property under this Chapter shall be deemed to
have purchased the property at a tax sale and shall have the same rights, obligations, and
duties of a tax sale purchaser as provided in Chapter 5 of Subtitle III of Title 47 of the
Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, except that the tax debtor, his heir, administrator,
executor, assign, or successor shall not have a right of redemption.
B. All sales by parishes or municipalities under this Chapter shall be without warranty.
C. The recordation of the post-adjudication act of sale in the conveyance office shall operate
as a cancellation of all liens, privileges, conventional and judicial mortgages, and other
encumbrances recorded against the property sold, including the liens and privileges for taxes,
paving, and other assessments due the state or any parish or municipality thereof. The clerk
of court shall cancel such liens, privileges, mortgages, and other encumbrances upon
recordation of the post-adjudication sale.
D. The provisions of R.S.41:1338 shall not apply to property being sold pursuant to this
Chapter.
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Title 33 Statute & Regulation
R.S.33:4720.47 Post-Adjudication; Notice
A. At least sixty days prior to the post-adjudication sale, the municipality or parish shall cause
notice to be given to the owner, the mortgagee, and any other person who may have a vested
or contingent interest in the property, or who has filed a request for notice as provided in
Subsection B of this Section, as specifically identified in the mortgage or conveyance records
of the parish in which the property is located. No further notification shall be required upon
any person acquiring a vested or contingent interest subsequent to the recordation of the
notice provided herein in the conveyance records of the parish in which the property is
located. The notice required herein shall be sufficient, and it shall not be necessary to
determine whether notice of the tax sale was given.
B. Any person desiring to be notified in the event specific immovable property will be subject
to a post-adjudication sale may file a request for the notice provided in Subsection A of this
Section in the mortgage records of the parish where the immovable property is located. The
request for notice shall state the legal description of the immovable property, the owner of
the property, and the name and address of the person desiring notice. The person desiring
notice shall pay the sum of five dollars to the sheriff, for deposit to the sheriff’s general fund,
to defray the cost of providing the notice. However, in the event that the request for notice
established herein is combined with a request for notice of seizure as provided for in
R.S.13:3886, the person requesting notice shall pay the sheriff the single fee established by
law for the request for notice of seizure.
C.In the event that the interested parties are absent or unable to be served, notice may be
made by publication once a week for two consecutive weeks in the official journal of the
parish or municipality.
D.At any moment before the post-adjudication sale, the property may be redeemed by the tax
debtor, his heir, administrator, executor, assign, or successor upon payment:
1) To the tax collector of the parish or municipality, all taxes, interest, costs, and penalties
due and owing at that time.
(2) To the appropriate parish or municipality, all charges imposed pursuant to R.S.
33:1236, and all paving and other local improvement assessments due upon the property,
including all interest, costs, and penalties, whether the same accrued prior to or after the
date when the property was adjudicated to the parish or municipality.
(3) To the appropriate parish or municipality all costs that may have been advanced or
charged by the parish or municipality in connection with any request for a postadjudication sale conducted pursuant to this Chapter.
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Ad Valorem Tax
E. A parish or municipality shall notify the tax collector of the parish or municipality of all
requests for post-adjudication sales conducted pursuant to this Chapter, and, once notified,
the tax collector shall not allow the property to be redeemed without first securing
confirmation from the parish or municipality that all sums due it under Subsection D of this
Section have been paid.
R.S.33:4720.48 Sale; privileges and liens
A post-adjudication sale conducted pursuant to this Chapter shall transfer the property to the
purchaser free and clear of any liens or privileges. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the
contrary, when a tax debtor participates in a post-adjudication disposition during or subsequent to
expiration of the redemptive period, it will be treated as a redemption and the tax debtor will be
required to pay all taxes and costs in accordance with all laws applicable to redemptions. However,
if the property is redeemed, all mortgages, liens, privileges, and other encumbrances affecting the
property prior to the sale shall remain in full force and effect with the same validity and priority as if
the sale had not occurred.
R.S.33:4720.49 Liability of owner
A. During the period between the adjudication and the post-adjudication sale pursuant to this
Chapter, the owner of record shall remain liable for damages to persons or property, pursuant
to R.S.9:2800.8, and the parish or municipality shall not be deemed the owner of the property
and shall not be liable to any person who enters upon the property for any of the following:
(1) Damages or injury, death, or loss which occurs while on the property.
(2) Damages or injury sustained by any person caused by the condition of the property.
(3) Maintenance or demolition costs incurred by the state or any other parish or
municipality during the period between the adjudication and the post-adjudication sale.
B. Nothing contained in this Chapter shall affect the liability of the parish or municipality
for negligent acts affecting the property by the parish or municipality, its employee,
officers, or other agents.
77
APPENDIX
C
AD VALOREM TAXES
LOUISIANA CONSTITUTION OF 1974
Article VII
Section 25.
(A) Tax Sales.
(1) There shall be no forfeiture of property for nonpayment of taxes. However, at the
expiration of the year in which the taxes are due, the collector, without suit, and after
giving notice to the delinquent in the manner provided by law, shall advertise for sale the
property on which the taxes are due. The advertisement shall be published in the official
journal of the parish or municipality, or, if there is no official journal, as provided by law
for sheriffs sales, in the manner provided for judicial sales. On the day of sale, the
collector shall sell the portion of the property which the debtor points out. If the debtor
does not point out sufficient property, the collector shall sell immediately the least quantity
of property which any bidder will buy for the amount of the taxes, interest, and costs. The
sale shall be without appraisement. A tax deed by a tax collector shall be prima facie
evidence that a valid sale was made.
(2) If property located in a municipality with a population of more than four hundred fifty
thousand persons as of the most recent federal decennial census fails to sell for the
minimum required bid in the tax sale, the collector may offer the property for sale at a
subsequent sale with no minimum required bid. The proceeds of the sale shall be applied to
the taxes, interest, and costs due on the property, and any remaining deficiency shall be
eliminated from the tax rolls.
(B) Redemption.
(1) The property sold shall be redeemable for three years after the date of recordation of the
tax sale, by paying the price given, including costs, five percent penalty thereon, and interest
at the rate of one percent per month until redemption.
(2) In the city of New Orleans, when such property sold is residential or commercial property
which is abandoned property as defined by R.S.33:4720.12(1) or blighted property as defined
by Act 155 of the 1984 Regular Session, it shall be redeemable for eighteen months after the
date of recordation of the tax sale by payment in accordance with Subparagraph (1) of this
Paragraph.
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Ad Valorem Tax
(C) Annulment.
No sale of property for taxes shall be set aside for any cause, except on proof of payment of
the taxes prior to the date of sale, unless the proceeding to annul is instituted within six
months after service of notice of sale. A notice of sale shall not be served until the final day
for redemption has ended. It must be served within five years after the date of recordation of
the tax deed if no notice is given. The fact that taxes were paid on a part of the property sold
prior to the sale thereof, or that a part of the property was not subject to taxation, shall not be
cause for annulling the sale of any part thereof on which the taxes for which it was sold were
due and unpaid. No judgment annulling a tax sale shall have effect until the price and all
taxes and costs are paid, and until ten per cent per annum interest on the amount of the price
and taxes paid from date of respective payments are paid to the purchaser; however, this shall
not apply to sales annulled because the taxes were paid prior to the date of sale.
(D) Quieting Tax Title.
The manner of notice and form of proceeding to quiet tax titles shall be provided by law.
(E) Movables; Tax Sales.
When taxes on movables are delinquent, the tax collector shall seize and sell sufficient
movable property of the delinquent taxpayer to pay the tax, whether or not the property
seized is the property which was assessed. Sale of the property shall be at public auction,
without appraisement, after ten days advertisement, published within ten days after date of
seizure. It shall be absolute and without redemption.
If the tax collector can find no corporeal movables of the delinquent to seize, he may levy on
incorporeal rights, by notifying the debtor thereof, or he may proceed by summary rule in the
courts to compel the delinquent to deliver for sale property in his possession or under his
control.
(F) Postponement of Taxes.
The legislature may postpone the payment of taxes, but only in cases of overflow, general
conflagration, general crop destruction, or other public calamity, and may provide for the
levying, assessing, and collecting of such postponed taxes. In such case, the legislature may
authorize the borrowing of money by the state on its faith and credit, by bond issue
or otherwise, and may levy taxes, or apply taxes already levied and not appropriated, to
secure payment thereof, in order to create a fund from which loans may be made through the
Interim Emergency Board to the governing authority of the parish where the calamity occurs.
The money loaned shall be applied to and shall not exceed the deficiency in revenue of the
parish or a political subdivision therein or of which the parish is a part, caused by
postponement of taxes. No loan shall be made to a parish governing authority without the
approval of the Interim Emergency Board.
79
DEFINITIONS
R.S. 47:1702. Definitions
As used in this Sub-title, the following terms have the meaning ascribed to them in this
Section, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) "Property" includes every form, character and kind of property, real, personal, and
mixed, tangible and intangible, corporeal and incorporeal, and every share, right, title or
interest therein or thereto, and every right, privilege, franchise, patent, copyright, trade-mark,
certificate, or other evidence of ownership or interest; bonds, notes, judgments, credits,
accounts, or other evidence of indebtedness, and every other thing of value, in possession, on
hand, or under the control, at any time during the calendar year for which taxes levied, within
the State of Louisiana, of any person, firm, partnership, association of persons, or
corporation, foreign or domestic whether the same be held, possessed, or controlled, as
owner, agent, pledgee, mortgagee, or legal representative, or as president, cashier, treasurer,
liquidator, assignee, master, superintendent, manager, sequestration, receiver, trustee,
stakeholder, depository, warehouseman, keeper, curator, executor, administrator, legatee, heir
beneficiary, parent, attorney, usufructuary, mandatary, fiduciary, or other capacity, whether
the owner be known or unknown; except in the cases of fire, life, or other insurance
companies, the notes, judgments, accounts, and credits of nonresident persons, firms,
corporations, partnership, associations, or companies doing business in the State of
Louisiana, originating from the business done in this state, are hereby declared to be property
with its situs within this state.
(2) "Real estate" or "immovable property" means and includes not only land, city, town and
village lots, but all things thereunto pertaining, and all structures and other appurtenances
thereto, as pass to the vendee by the conveyance of the land or lot.
(3) "Personal Property" or "movable property" means and includes all things other than real
estate which have any pecuniary value, all moneys, credits, investments in bonds, stocks,
franchises, shares in joint stock companies or otherwise, rights to cut and remove or use
standing trees or timber from the land of another whether the time to do so be limited or not,
all standing timber or trees owned by any person other than the owner of the land upon which
it or they stand, all cases where the ownership of standing trees or timber, or the right to cut
and use standing trees or timber is in any person other than the owner of the land upon which
the trees or timber stand; the trees or timber or the right to cut and use the same as the case
may be shall be assessed to the owner of such right of trees or timber for taxation in the
parish where the trees or timber is situation.
(4) "Money" or "moneys" means and includes gold, silver and other coin, bills or exchange,
bank bills or other bills or notes, authorized to be circulated as money, whether in possession
or subject to the draft of the depositor or the person having the beneficial interest therein on
demand.
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Ad Valorem Tax
(5) "Credit" includes every claim and demand for money, labor, merchandise and other
valuable things.
(6) "Person" or "persons", "taxpayer" or "taxpayers" includes firms, companies, associations
and corporations; all words importing the masculine gender apply to females also, and all
words in the plural number apply to single individuals in all cases in which the spirit and
intent of this Chapter require it.
(7) "Actual cash value," or "actual cash valuation," means the valuation at which any real or
personal property is assessed for the purpose of taxation, after the assessing authorities have
considered every element of value in arriving at such valuation. The price at which any piece
of real estate or personal or movable property shall have been sold for cash in the ordinary
course of business, free of all encumbrances, otherwise than at forced sale, shall be
evidentiary only, and be considered with other factors in determining the actual cash value
for assessment purposes.
(8) "Rolling stock" includes any kind of locomotive, car, or sleeping car used either for
freight or passenger purposes, that may be operated over any railroad within this state.
(9) “Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act” shall mean Title 43 U.S.C. Section 1.331 et.Seq.
(10) “Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Waters” shall mean all waters above all
submerged land seaward and outside of the area of state submerged lands beneath navigable
waters as defined in the Submerged Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. Section 1301, et seq. The term
shall further mean all waters above Outer Continental Shelf submerged lands to which the
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act applies.
(11) “The Submerged Lands Act” shall mean Title 43 U.S.C. Section 1301 et seq.
81
Sample Ad Valorem Tax Collection Steps
Movable Property Taxes
Action
Legal
Authorization
Approximate
Date
1)
Receive Tax roll from assessor.
Print and mail tax notices
R.S. 47:2101
Mid-November
2)
Taxes are delinquent Jan. 1.
Interest accrues monthly
R.S. 47:2101
January 1
3)
Certified tax notices sent on
unpaid movable property taxes.
Contains notice of possible
seizure of property for nonpayment. Cost for notice
assessed each account.
R.S. 47:2171
January 1 *
(or as soon thereafter
as possible)
4)
Movable property seized. **
Written demand for payment
within three days given
tax debtor.
R.S. 47:2172
As Needed
5)
Movable property advertised
for sale and sold at auction
without appraisement and
without right of redemption.
R.S. 47:2172
As Needed
*
Some collectors wait until February in order to allow processing time for late
payments.
**
Collector may seize any movable property of tax debtor, whether that which was
assessed or not. (Article VII, Section 25 (E) Constitution)
82
Sample Ad Valorem Tax Collection Steps
Immovable Property Taxes
Action
Legal
Authorization
1)
Receive Tax roll from
assessor. Print and
mail tax notices.
R.S. 47:2101
Mid-November
2)
Taxes are delinquent
Jan. 1. Interest accrues
monthly
R.S. 47:2101
January 1
3)
Certified tax notices *
sent on immovable
property taxes. Contains
notice of intent to
sell property if taxes
not paid. Cost for
notice assessed each account.
R.S. 47:2180
January 2
(or as soon thereafter
as possible e.g.,
Feb. - March)
R.S. 47:2180
After Certified
Notices Sent
4) Proces verbal filed
R.S. 47:2181.
Article 2331,
La. Code of
Civil Procedure
Approximate
Date
5)
Properties with unpaid
taxes advertised for
sale in official journal.
6)
Properties on which owners
are unknown or certified notices
were undeliverable are
advertised twice in the
official journal.
*
Notices are to be sent to delinquent taxpayer, record owner, or actual owner in case
record owner is deceased.
83
R.S. 47:2180
April-May
April-May
Sample Ad Valorem Tax Collection Steps
Immovable Property Taxes
(Continued)
Action
Legal
Authorization
Approximate
Date
7) Conduct Tax Sale of
immovable properties
R.S. 47:2180
R.S. 47:2182
One week after
last Advertisement
8) Tax Sale deeds
prepared
R.S. 47:2183
May-June
9) Unsold properties
adjudicated to parish or
City and adjudication
deed filed with Clerk
of Court.
R.S. 47:2183
June-July
10) Records of Clerk of
Court researched for
transfers on all
property sold or
adjudicated. Certified
notice sent to new
owners informing them
of sale and advising
them that property
may be redeemed any
time within a three
(3) year period.
R.S. 47:2180(D)
July-Aug.
84
AD VALOREM TAXES
TOPICAL INDEX
TOPIC
STATUTE
REFERENCE
PAGE
33:2870
47:2186
54
26
47:2172
47:2181
33:2867
47:2226
Art. VII, Sec. 25 (C)
47:2223
33:2868-2869
15
22-23
52
39
79
36-37
53-54
47:2101(A)(1)
1
47:2111
47:2183 (B)
33:2864 (B)
47:2224
47:2228
33:2865
47:2180(A)(1)(b) (B)
47:2180(C)
33:2865
13
24
50
37-39
40
51
19-20
20
51
47:2106
47:2172
47:2183
33:2874
47:2190
7
16
24-25
55-56
32-33
47:2101(A)(3)
47:2108-2108.1
1
9-11
A
Absolute Title
Adjudication
Advertisement for Sale
Movable Property
Immovable Property
Adjudicated Property
Annulment of Sale
Appraisal of Improvements
Appraisement
B
Bulk Sale
C
Cancellation of Mortgages
Certificate of Redemption
Confirmation of Title
Contingent Fund
Costs, Mailing
Costs, Publication
Curator Ad Hoc
D
Deferment
Demand of Payment
Deed of Sale
Disposition of Proceeds
E
Extension
Erroneous Payments
85
AD VALOREM TAXES
TOPICAL INDEX
TOPIC
STATUTE
REFERENCE
PAGE
47:2102
2-3
47:1702
47:2101(A)(3)
47:2184
47:2224
80
1
25
37
47:2172
15-16
47:2181-2181.1
22-24
33:2868
47:1702
53
80
47:2175(F)
47:2180.1
47:2180(B)
47:2180(B)(D)
47:2180.1
18
21
20
20-21
21
47:2171
47:2180
47:2183(C)(D)(E)
14-15
19-20
24a-24b
F
Fiduciaries
G
H
I-J
Immovable Property
Interest
Interest Conveyed
Interest Charges
K
Keeper
L
Location of Sale
M
Minimum Bid
Movable Property
N
No Property Found
Notice to Mortgage holder
Notice, Undeliverable
Notice, Certified
Notice, of Delinquency
Movable Property
Immovable Property
Notice By Purchaser
86
AD VALOREM TAXES
TOPICAL INDEX
TOPIC
STATUTE
REFERENCE
PAGE
33:2863
47:2185
49
25
47:2251
47:2110
33:2871
47:2185
33:2872
47:2180(B)
33:2862
47:1702
47:2112-2114
42
12-13
54
25
54-55
20
49
80
13-14
47:2228.1
Art. VII,Sec.25 (D)
40-42
79
47:1702
33:2866.1
47:2103
47:2173
80
51a
3-4
16
47:2186-2187
Art.VII,Sec. 25 (B)
26-27
78
47:2224-2225
47:2221
37-39
34
O
Order of Seizure & Possession
P
Parish Substituted for State
Payment Under Protest
Placing in Possession
Prescription
Proces Verbal
Property
Pro Rata Taxes
Q
Quieting Title
R
Real Estate
Real Estate Broker
Receipt
Removal of Property
Register of the State Land
Office
Redemption
Redemption of Adjudicated
Property
Right to Redeem
87
AD VALOREM TAXES
TOPICAL INDEX
TOPIC
STATUTE
REFERENCE
PAGE
33:2866
33:2879
33:2880
33:2881.1
33:2881.2
33:2881.3
33:2881.4
47:2172
47:2175
47:2175(B)
47:2174
47:2189
47:2105
33:2862
51
58-59
59-60
61
61-62
62
63
15-16
17-18
17
17
27-31
4-7
49
Article VII,Sec. 25 (A)
78
47:2171 (C)
47:2180(C)
15
20-21
47:2103
3-4
S
Sale of Adjudicated Property
Seizure, Movable Property
Summary Rule
Summary Seizure
Stamp Lots
Subrogation
Suit to obtain Possession
T
Tax Sale
U
Unknown Owners
V
W-Z
Warrants
88