§2153. Notice of delinquency and tax sale

            A.(1)(a) No later than the first Monday of February of each year, or as soon thereafter as possible, the tax collector shall send a written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to each tax notice party when the tax debtor has not paid all the statutory impositions which have been assessed on immovable property, notifying the person that the statutory impositions on the immovable property shall be paid within twenty days after the sending of the notice or as soon thereafter before the tax sale is scheduled, or that tax sale title to the property will be sold according to law. After the property goes to tax sale and within ninety days of the expiration of the redemptive period, the tax collector shall provide written notice by first class mail to each tax notice party that tax sale title to the property has been sold at tax sale and that after the expiration of the redemptive period, the property cannot be redeemed. The notice shall be sufficient if it is in the following form:

[Name of Tax Collector and Address]

[Tax Collector Name]

Name of Tax Debtor

[address]

Make checks payable to: [Tax Collector Name]

Mail this portion of tax bill and payment to:[address]"

            (b) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit the tax collector from sending more than one notice of sale.

            (c)(i) If the written notice by certified mail is returned for any reason, the tax collector shall demonstrate a reasonable and diligent effort to provide notice of the tax sale to the tax debtor. To demonstrate a reasonable and diligent effort, the tax collector shall attempt to deliver notice of the delinquent taxes and tax sale by first class mail to the last known address of the debtor and take any three of the following additional steps to notify the tax debtor:

            (aa) Perform a computer search of digitized records and databases of the clerk of court or sheriff's office for addresses of other properties that may be owned by the debtor.

            (bb) Contact the tax assessor of the parish in which the property is located for the addresses of other properties that may be owned by the debtor.

            (cc) Examine the mortgage or conveyance records of the parish where the property is located to determine whether there are any other transactions pertaining to the property.

            (dd) Attempt personal or domiciliary service of the notice.

            (ee) Post the notice of tax sale at the property.

            (ii) The notice of the tax sale shall be sent by certified mail or commercial courier to all addresses discovered through the steps set forth in this Subparagraph. The tax collector may recover all reasonable and customary costs actually incurred in complying with these steps.

            (iii) Failure of the debtor to receive actual notice of the tax sale shall not affect the validity of the tax sale when the tax collector demonstrates a reasonable and diligent effort to provide notice of the tax sale as set forth in this Subsection. If the debtor is deceased, the notice of tax sale and the reasonable and diligent effort to provide notice of the tax sale shall be sufficient if to the succession representative, if applicable, or to a curator as provided by law.

            (2)(a) No later than the first Monday of March of each year, or as soon thereafter as possible, the tax collector shall search the mortgage and conveyance records of tax sale eligible property to identify its tax sale parties.

            (b) Prior to the tax sale, the tax collector shall send a written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to each tax sale party identified pursuant to Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph. The notice shall advise the person that it is required that the statutory impositions on the immovable property be paid within twenty days after the sending of the notice or the tax sale title to the property will be sold according to law. This notice shall be sufficient if it is in the following form:

TAX SALE PARTY NOTICE OF TAX SALE

[Date]

            [Name]

            [Address]

            [City], [ST] [Zip]

            RE:     Tax Bill Number:

            Property: [Property Address]

            [Description of Property Abbr]

YOU HAVE A PUBLICLY RECORDED INTEREST IN THE ABOVE REFERENCED PROPERTY. PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY.

The property taxes for the above referenced property were not paid. In accordance with the notice requirement contained in Article VII, Section 25 of the Louisiana Constitution, you are hereby notified that if the delinquent property taxes are not paid within twenty days of the date of this notice, the property will be sold at tax sale in accordance with law.

AFTER THE EXPIRATION OF THE REDEMPTIVE PERIOD, THE PROPERTY CANNOT BE REDEEMED. CONTINUED POSSESSION OF THE PROPERTY DOES NOT EXTEND THE REDEMPTIVE PERIOD.

Please contact [name of tax collector] if you believe that you received this notice in error, have sold or transferred this property, or for further information or assistance.

Thank you,

Tax Collector of [name of political subdivision]

[Tax collector phone number]

THIS NOTICE CONCERNS ONLY THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED IN THE "REGARDING" PORTION OF THIS LETTER; the address of that property may or may not be the same as the mailing address of this notice.

If your recorded interest in this property is no longer valid or enforceable, you may remove it by visiting the office of the recorder of mortgages and conveyances located at [mortgage and conveyance office address]."

            B.(1)(a) At the expiration of twenty days' notice, counting from the day when the last of the written notices are sent, or as soon thereafter as practicable, the tax collector shall proceed to publish a notice to the tax debtors of the delinquency and to advertise for sale the consolidated delinquent tax list under one form two times within thirty days in the official journal of the political subdivision. The publication and advertisement shall be sufficient if it is in the following form:

"DELINQUENT TAX LIST

______________________________ vs. Delinquent Tax Debtors

(insert appropriate taxing bodies)

            By virtue of the authority vested in me by the constitution and the laws of the State of Louisiana, I will sell, at ____________________, within the legal hours for judicial sales beginning at __________ o'clock a.m. on __________, the __________ day of __________, ____, and continuing on each succeeding legal day, until said sales are completed, tax sale title to all immovable property on which taxes are now due to ___________________________, to enforce collection of taxes

 (insert affected taxing bodies) assessed in the year ____, together with interest thereon from January 1, ____, at the rate of one percent (1%) per month until paid and all costs. The names of said delinquent tax debtors, the amount of statutory impositions due, including any due for prior years, and the immovable property assessed to each to be offered for sale are as follows: (Insert names of delinquent tax debtors in alphabetical order, the amount of statutory impositions due, including any due for prior years 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 sell a tax sale title to such portions of the property as each tax debtor will point out and, in case the debtor will not point out sufficient property, I will at once and without further delay sell the least quantity as undivided interests of said property of any tax debtor which any bidder will buy for the amount of the statutory impositions for which the sale is made, together with interest and costs due by said tax debtor. The sale will be without appraisement, for cash or other payment method acceptable to the tax collector, in legal tender money of the United States, and the tax sale title to property sold will be redeemable at any time during the applicable redemptive period by paying the price given, including costs 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 required to be published pursuant to Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph, the tax collector may elect to publish via the Internet the portion of the notification and advertisement that details the names of delinquent tax debtors, the amount of statutory impositions due, and the description of each specific piece of immovable property to be offered for sale. In the instance of using the Internet for the detailed listing of properties offered for tax sale, the tax collector shall provide, within the original printed notification or advertisement, the web address where the comprehensive list of debtors and properties offered for sale can be viewed.

            (2) For the purpose of tax sales, it shall be sufficient to advertise all property in the name of the tax debtor at the time the assessment was made.

            (3) 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 roll 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 transferring the ownership thereof, or by such other further description as may furnish the means of reasonable identification.

            (4) 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 tax debtor, 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.

            (5) On the day of sale, the tax collector shall sell the portion of the property which the debtor points out. If the debtor does not point out any property or sufficient property, the tax collector shall sell immediately the least quantity of the property, determined by undivided interests, which any bidder will buy for the amount of taxes, interest, penalties and costs. Except as provided 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 with the initial bid being one hundred percent and thereafter declining from the initial bid. As an alternative to the procedure for bidding by undivided interest as provided by this Section, upon agreement between the tax collector and the local governing authority, any bidder may elect to bid down the five percent penalty, as provided for in Article VII, Section 25(B)(1) of the Constitution of Louisiana, in increments of one-tenth of a percent. The tax collector may determine and establish that the least quantity that can be sold by undivided interests is one percent or less of the whole. The tax sale shall convey, and the purchaser shall take, tax sale title in the undivided interest bid in the entirety of the property, or in the case of separate assessments for undivided interests in the property, tax sale title in the undivided interest bid in the entirety of the undivided interest, intended to be assessed and sold as it was owned by the delinquent tax debtor regardless of any error in the dimensions or description of the property as assessed and sold. The tax collector in the advertisement or tax sale may give the full description according to original titles.

            (6) Except as otherwise provided in this Subpart, the tax sale shall be conducted in the manner provided by law for judicial sales. This provision shall not be construed to prohibit the tax collector from conducting the tax sale by using an online or electronic bidding process consistent with the law governing judicial sales.

            (7) Except as otherwise provided in this Subpart, the tax sale shall be conducted in the manner provided by law for judicial sales. The tax collector may require all registered tax sale participants to provide a deposit, not to exceed one thousand dollars, prior to the commencement of the tax sale. If a deposit is required, the deposit of the winning bidder shall be applied toward the sale price at the time of purchase. A deposit from a non-winning bidder shall be returned or refunded to the depositor within fourteen days of the close of the sale. The deposit shall be made in a form approved by the tax collector.

            C.(1) In the absence of actual notice of the sale to a tax sale party, including a transferee, or the demonstration of a reasonable effort to provide notice, where the name and address of the tax sale party were reasonably ascertainable or where the transfer was recorded after the tax collector completed his pre-sale tax sale party research, the tax collector shall cancel the sale of the property and refund the tax sale purchaser the tax sale purchase price.

            (2) For each transferred property upon which a tax sale is cancelled pursuant to Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, the tax collector shall send the transferee a tax notification, inclusive of tax sale costs accrued.

            Acts 2008, No. 819, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009; Acts 2009, No. 507, §1; Acts 2009, No. 511, §2; Acts 2010, No. 716, §1; Acts 2010, No. 817, §1; Acts 2010, No. 823, §1; Acts 2012, No. 836, §1; Acts 2019, No. 384, §1.