RS 2153 - Reminder of Default and Tax Sale
A.(1)(a) Not later than the first Monday in February in each year, or as soon as practicable thereafter, the tax collector shall send written notice by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt to each tax notifying party if the taxpayer has not paid all statutory duties assessed on immovable property has paid by notifying the person that the statutory duties on the immovable property are payable within twenty days of the dispatch of the notice or as soon as thereafter prior to the proposed tax sale, or that the tax sale right in the immovable property will be sold in accordance with the Act . After the property has gone on the tax sale and within ninety days of the redemption deadline, the tax collector must notify each tax notifying party in writing by first class mail that the tax sale right to the property has been sold for tax sale and that after the redemption deadline the property cannot more to be redeemed. The notification is sufficient if it is in the following form:
"Year | Station | Sect. | Ass. # | Property # | note # |
********PLEASE NOTE******** | [NAME OF POLITICAL SUBDIVISION] |
*By law, your taxes are past due after December 31st. The law requires interest to be calculated as follows: A flat rate of one percent (1%) per month on overdue ad valorem taxes. | |
*If tax money is held in escrow, please forward the tax notice to your mortgage company. | |
*If a receipt is required, enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope with your payment. | |
*Please notify the Sheriff's Office or Assessor's Office of any change of address. | |
*If you have any questions about appraisals or millages, please contact: Assessor Office: property tax office: | |
*Payment can be made online at __________________________ | |
*[DATE OF NOTICE]. If taxes are not paid within twenty days of this date, the Policy Department will proceed to sell the tax right to sell the property at [Tax Sale Scheduled Location], beginning on [Scheduled First Sale Date]. You have the right to pay the amounts due up to the day before the actual sale. If the tax sale right to the property is sold, you have three years [or other applicable redemption period] from the date of filing the tax sale certificate to redeem the property in accordance with the law, but in order to redeem you are required to pay a penalty of 5% and 1% per month to be paid on the overdue amounts along with other legal costs. |
Total Value Tax Distributions | Millages | Deliverance from the homestead | Taxes and other statutory charges due | Rating Information |
[add tax districts] | [Add tax amount for each district] | Estimated total value | ||
object description | ||||
Total number of statutory taxes due | ||||
Interest | ||||
Cost | ||||
In total |
[Name of tax collector and address]
Total number of statutory taxes due | |
Interest | |
Cost | |
In total |
[name of tax collector]
YEAR | STATION | SECT | ASS.# | PROPERTY | NOTE# |
Name of the tax debtor
[address]
Make checks payable to: [Name of Tax Collector]
Send this part of the tax invoice and payment to: [address]"
(b) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit the Tax Collector from sending more than one Sales Notice.
(c)(i) If written notice is returned by registered mail for any reason, the tax collector must use reasonable and diligent efforts to notify the tax debtor of the tax sale. To demonstrate reasonable and diligent effort, the tax collector must attempt to deliver the arrears tax and tax sale notification by first class mail to the debtor's last known address and take three of the following additional steps to notify the tax debtor:
(aa) conducting a computer search of digitized records and databases held by the court clerk or sheriff's office for addresses of other properties that may belong to the debtor.
(bb) Consult the tax advisor of the municipality where the property is located for the addresses of other properties that may belong to the debtor.
(cc) Examine the mortgage or title transfer records of the community where the property is located to determine if there are other transactions related to the property.
(dd) Attempting personal or home delivery of the Notice.
(ee) Post notice of tax sale on property.
(ii) The Tax Sale Notice shall be sent by registered mail or commercial courier to all addresses determined by the steps set forth in this sub-paragraph. The tax collector can reclaim any reasonable and customary costs actually incurred as a result of following these steps.
(iii) Debtor's failure to obtain actual tax sale notification shall not affect the validity of the tax sale if the tax collector demonstrates reasonable and diligent efforts to provide tax sale notification in accordance with this subsection. If the debtor is deceased, notification of the tax alienation and reasonable and diligent effort to notify the tax alienation when directed to the estate agent, if applicable, or to a statutory executor is sufficient.
(2)(a) No later than the first Monday in March in each year, or as soon as practicable thereafter, the tax collector must search the mortgage and title transfer records of tax-sellable property to identify its tax sellers.
(b) Prior to the Tax Sale, the Tax Collector must send written notice by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt to each Tax Selling Party identified pursuant to subparagraph (a) of this paragraph. The notice must advise the person that statutory dues on the immovable property are payable within twenty days of the date the notice is sent or the right to sell the property for tax purposes will be sold in accordance with the law. This notice is sufficient if it is in the following form:
TAX SALES PARTY NOTICE REGARDING TAX SALES
[Datum]
[Name]
[Address]
[City], [ST] [ZIP]
RE: Tax number:
Property: [property address]
[Property Description Abbr]
YOU HAVE A PUBLICLY RECORDED INTEREST IN THE PROPERTY IDENTIFIED ABOVE. PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY.
The property taxes for the above property have not been paid. Consistent with the notice requirement contained in Article VII, Section 25 of the Louisiana Constitution, you are hereby notified that if overdue property taxes are not paid within twenty days of the date of this notice, the property will be sold for tax sale in accordance with the Law.
AFTER THE REDEMPTION PERIOD, THE PROPERTY CANNOT BE REDEEMED. CONTINUED OWNERSHIP OF PROPERTY DOES NOT EXTEND REDEMPTION PERIOD.
Please contact [Tax Collector Name] if you believe you have received this notice in error, have sold or transferred this property, or if you require any further information or assistance.
Many Thanks,
Tax collectors of [name of political subdivision]
[Tax Collector Phone Number]
THIS NOTICE AFFECTS ONLY THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED IN THE “REGARDING” PORTION OF THIS LETTER; the address of this property may or may not match the postal address on this notice.
If your registered interest in this property is no longer valid or enforceable, you may remove it by visiting the Mortgage and Transfers Registry office at [mortgage and transfers office address].
B.(1)(a) Upon expiry of a period of twenty days from the date on which the last written notice was sent, or as soon as practicable thereafter, the tax collector shall issue a notice to notify the tax debtor of default and to offer the consolidated arrears tax list for sale under one form twice within thirty days in the Political Subdivision Gazette. The publication and advertising is sufficient if it takes place in the following form:
"LIST OF MISSED TAXES
______________________________ against defaulting tax debtors
(insert relevant tax authorities)
Pursuant to the authority conferred on me by the Constitution and the laws of the state of Louisiana, I sell at ____________, within the legal hours of operation for court sales, beginning at __________ p.m. on __________, the __________ day of __________, ____, and continuing on each subsequent legal day, until the said sales are completed, the tax sale title to any immovable property on which tax is now due ___________________________ to enforce collection of tax
(insert relevant tax authorities) assessed in the year ____, together with interest thereon from 1 January ____, at a rate of one percent (1%) per month pending payment and all charges. The names of these taxpayers in default, the amount of statutory duty due, including any due for prior years, and the immovable property offered for sale in each case are as follows: (insert names of taxpayers in default in alphabetical order, the amount of statutory duty due, including the fees due for previous years for each individual property, and the description of each individual property offered for sale.)
On the day of sale, I sell a tax sale title to such portions of property as each taxpayer indicates, and if the debtor fails to report sufficient assets, I shall promptly and without further delay sell the smallest amount as an undivided portion of a taxpayer's property that a bidder has will buy for the amount of the statutory dues for which the sale is being made, together with any interest and costs owed by that taxpayer. The sale will be effected without a valuation, for cash or other method of payment acceptable to the tax collector in United States legal tender, and the tax sale title to the property being sold may be redeemed at any time during the applicable redemption period by payment of the price stated, including expenses and five percent ( 5%) penalty thereon, with interest at the rate of one percent (1%) per month until redeemed."
(b) In addition to the notice to be published pursuant to subparagraph (a) of this paragraph, the tax collector may elect to publish via the internet that part of the notice and notice which contains the names of the tax debtors in default and the amount of the statutory dues and the Description of each individual property to be offered for sale. In the case of using the Internet for the detailed listing of real estate offered for tax sale, the tax collector must indicate in the original printed notice or notice the web address where the comprehensive list of debtors and real estate offered for sale can be consulted.
(2) For the tax sale, it is sufficient to write out all the properties at the time of the assessment in the name of the tax debtor.
(3) For the purpose of tax sale, it is sufficient to estimate and describe all valued real estate in the following manner: by designating the real estate or real estate by the name by which it is commonly known, or by its number or letter as it normally may be designated on the regular appraisal list, or on any official or private plan or sketch, or by the indication of the boundaries, or the names of the owners on each side, or by the dimensions, or the description, or the name given in the title deed, or by another further description that allows a reasonable identification.
(4) No tax sale shall be set aside or annulled because of an error in the description or measurement of property assessed on behalf of the taxpayer, provided that the property sold can reasonably be identified. Where advertisements are required to be made in connection with the sale of real estate against unpaid taxes, the advertisements may only be made in English.
(5) On the day of sale, the tax collector has to sell the share of the property to which the debtor refers. If the debtor has no assets or insufficient assets, the tax collector will promptly sell the smallest amount of the assets determined by the undivided interest that each bidder will buy for the amount of taxes, interest, penalties, and costs. Except as in R.S. 47:2196(D) the purchase price or bid price is the amount of taxes, interest, penalties and costs, and the bidding is by undivided interests, the original bid being one hundred percent and thereafter declining from the original bid. As an alternative to the undivided interest bidding procedure provided for in this section, each bidder may, by agreement between the tax collector and the local government agency, elect to bid down the five percent penalty in increments pursuant to Article VII, Section 25(B)(1) of the Louisiana Constitution by a tenth of a percent. The tax collector can determine and determine that the minimum amount that can be sold by undivided shares is one percent or less of the whole. The tax sale confers and the buyer assumes the tax sale right in the undivided bid in the whole of the property or, in the case of separate assessments for undivided interests in the property, the tax sell right in the undivided bid the entire undivided interest assessed and sold as the property of the defaulting taxpayer shall be, notwithstanding any error in the dimensions or description of the property being valued and sold. The tax collector in the ad or tax sale can provide the full description according to the original titles.
(6) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the tax sale shall be conducted in the manner provided by law for court sales. Nothing in this provision shall be construed to prohibit the tax collector from conducting the tax sale using an online or electronic bidding process in accordance with the Judicial Sales Act.
(7) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the tax sale shall be conducted in the manner provided by law for court sales. The tax collector may require all registered tax sales participants to make a deposit of no more than one thousand dollars before the tax sale begins. If a deposit is required, the highest bidder's deposit will be applied towards the sale price at the time of purchase. Any deposit from an unsuccessful bidder will be returned or refunded to the depositor within fourteen days of the completion of the sale. The deposit must be made in a form approved by the tax collection authority.
C.(1) In the absence of actual notification of the sale to a taxable party, including an acquirer, or evidence of reasonable efforts to notify if the name and address of the taxable party could reasonably be ascertained or where the transfer was recorded after Once the tax collector has completed his pre-sales tax sales party research, the tax collector must cancel the sale of the property and reimburse the tax sales buyer for the tax sales purchase price.
(2) For any transferred property for which a tax sale is canceled pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, the tax collector shall send the transferee a tax notice including the tax sale expenses incurred.
Acts 2008, no. 819, §1, eff. Jan 1, 2009; Laws 2009, No. 507, §1; Laws 2009, No. 511, §2; Laws 2010, No. 716, §1; Laws 2010, No. 817, §1; Laws 2010, No. 823, §1; Laws 2012, No. 836, §1; Laws 2019, No. 384, §1.