Tax debtors have a constitutional right to redeem property sold at a tax sale by paying the delinquent taxes, accrued taxes, interest, and penalties within the time for redemption.1  “Once the property owner timely redeems his property, the rights of the tax sale purchaser to the ownership or possession of the property are dissolved.”2  Louisiana law favors redemption of property sold at tax sales.3

• 1The redemptive period is 3 years (or 18 months if the property is blighted). La. Const. art. VII, § 25(B).
• 2Smith v. Brumfield, 2013-1171, p. 16 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1/15/14), 133 So. 3d 70, 79.
• 3Fleckinger v. Smith, 319 So. 2d 881, 885 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1975); ACORN Cmty. Land Ass’n of La. v. Zeno, 2005-CA-1489 (La. App. 4 Cir. 6/21/06), 936 So. 2d 836.

In general, property may be redeemed within 3 years of the recordation of the tax deed in the conveyance records.1  A “tax sale certificate” is considered a “tax deed” for redemption purposes. Always check the recordation date to determine how much time is left for redemption. In some parishes, many months can pass between the tax sale and the recordation of the tax sale certificate.

While a tax sale redemptive period is peremptive,2  in some cases an untimely redemption may relate back to a timely redemption request or similar action if the tax collector was unable to timely process that request.3  Computer issues, hurricane closures, and emergency COVID-19 closures are the most common reasons for a tax collector’s inability to process tax sale redemptions. If your client has attempted to redeem a tax sale, but the tax collector was unable to complete the request for any reason, your client must preserve all communications and take detailed notes of each unfulfilled redemption request. For an unfulfilled redemption request to be deemed timely, the client must continuously make redemption requests until the tax collector is able to comply.

In addition, the Governor has the power to “suspend the provisions of any regulatory statute . . . if strict compliance with the provisions of any statute . . . would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action in coping with the emergency.”4  Suspension of tax sale redemptive periods has occurred numerous times under the Governor’s emergency powers following hurricanes and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In some instances, the Legislature has codified the suspension of the tax sale period, as it did after the COVID-19 “stay at home” orders.5

• 1La. Const. art. VII, § 25(B)(1); see Hamilton v. Royal Int’l Petroleum Corp., 2005-C-846 (La. 2/22/06), 934 So. 2d 25.
• 2La. R.S. 47:2241.
• 3Harris v. Guardian Funds, Inc., 425 So. 2d 1322 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1983) (lawsuit to redeem filed within 3 years); Becnel v. Woodland, 628 So. 2d 89, 91 (La. App. 5 Cir. 1993) (oral request to redeem within 3 years is sufficient); Miss. Land Co. v. S & A Props. II, Inc., pp. 5–7 (La. App. 3 Cir. 5/8/02), 817 So. 2d 1200, 1204–05 (erroneous payment within 3-year redemption period held sufficient effort to redeem); S.A. Mortgage Serv., Co. v. Lemoine, 01-CV-250 (La. App. 5 Cir. 10/17/01), 800 So. 2d 1015 (redemption timely where insufficient amount paid because city gave tax debtor the wrong redemption amount); Succession of Caldarera v. Zeno, 2009-1397, pp. 6–8 (La. App. 4 Cir. 7/16/10), 43 So. 3d 1080, 1085–86 (succession’s timely attempts to redeem were delays by erroneous city records).
• 4La. R.S. 29:724(1).
• 5See La. R.S. 9:5828, et seq.

A shorter 18-month redemptive period exists for blighted or abandoned property sold at a tax sale.1  In Padilla v. Schwartz, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal held that this 18-month period only applies when the tax sale occurred under the statutory authority for sales of blighted property.2  However, the tax sale in Padilla occurred prior to the tax sale revisions, and so its holding can no longer be relied on as a tax sale defense. In Smith v. Brumfield, the same court distinguished Padilla by holding that in order for the 18-month redemptive period to apply, the property need only have been judicially declared blighted or abandoned prior to the tax sale.3  However, in In re Flag Boy Properties, LLC, Praying for Monition, the Fourth Circuit held that a code violation judgment rendered subsequent to a judgment of blight that does not declare the property blighted for a second time is “sufficient proof of compliance” that the property is no blighted and, therefore, not subject to an 18-month redemptive period.4

• 1La. Const. art. VII, § 25(B)(2).
• 2Padilla v. Schwartz, 2006-CA-1517 (La. App. 4 Cir. 3/11/09), 11 So. 3d 6.
• 3Smith v. Brumfield, 2013-1171 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1/15/14), 133 So. 3d 70.
• 4In re Flag Boy Properties, LLC, 2021-0644 (La. App. 4 Cir. 3/10/22).

If a third-party does not buy the property at the tax sale, it is adjudicated to the city or parish. In “adjudicated sales”, the property may be redeemed beyond the 3-year period until any of the following occurs:

• The later of 60 days or 6 months, as applicable, after the notice required by R.S. 47:2206 [notice of potential sale or donation] or the filing of the sale or donation transferring the property from the political division pursuant to R.S. 47:2201, et seq.
• The granting of the order of possession pursuant to R.S. 47:2232 [suit by political subdivision to obtain possession of adjudicated property].
• 60 days or 6 months as applicable after the notice required by R.S. 47:2236 [declaration of political subdivision by ordinance of its intent to acquire property].1

Some taxing authorities allow for redemption of an adjudication lien until the day the act transferring the property to a third party is filed. As a result, there may not be a real need to litigate a defense to an adjudicated lien as its redemption period extends well beyond the three years. A tax debtor’s best defense is to simply redeem the adjudicated tax sale.

• 1La. R.S. 47:2246(A).

Any person may redeem a tax sale through the tax collector. However, the redemption is in the name of the tax debtor and for the debtor’s benefit.1  The basic redemption price is the delinquent tax, accrued taxes since the tax sale, a 5% penalty, costs, and simple interest at 1% per month. Upon payment of the redemption costs, the tax collector must issue a redemption certificate to the name of the tax debtor and file it in the appropriate conveyance records.2

Governmental liens can also be added to the tax sale redemption price. La. R.S. 13:2575(C)(2) mandates that “[a]ny liens placed against such immovable property shall be included in the next annual ad valorem tax bill and shall be paid along with such taxes . . . .” However, La. R.S. 47:2244, apparently allows the tax collector to require the payment of all amounts accrued under other government liens at the time of the redemption payment, not just those placed on the tax bill. Whether a tax collector can require payment of governmental liens that have not been included on the tax bill has not yet been tested in the courts.

Tax sale purchasers are required to pay the taxes for subsequent tax years.3  If the tax sale purchaser fails to pay, the property can be sold again at tax sale. However, a tax sale purchaser has a right to redeem the subsequent tax sale within 3 years of that sale.4  The interest of a tax sale purchaser who chooses not to redeem following a subsequent tax sale can be terminated just as an original tax debtor’s interest would.5  However, until a subsequent tax sale’s redemption period has passed, a tax sale purchaser’s failure to pay subsequent taxes does not affect the purchaser’s ability to quiet the purchaser’s own tax title.

• 1La. R.S. 47:2242.
• 2La. R.S. 47:2245.
• 3La. R.S. 47:2161.
• 4Virtocom Fin. v. Palo Verde, 03-CA-621 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2/23/04), 869 So.2d 194.
• 5See La. R.S. 47:2122(19) (providing that a prior tax sale purchaser is a “tax sale party” whose interest may be cancelled).