To be successful, claimants must first establish they are a “tax sale party”, which means that they had a recorded interest in the mortgage or conveyance records entitled them to tax sale notice.1 This requirement mainly affects heirs or legatees, who often have no recorded interest. However, while heirs or legatees may not bring a nullity action in their own right, an heir to an unopened succession can assert a nullity action based on the claims of the decedent.2
- 1La. R.S. 47:2122(19) (“‘Tax sale party’ means the tax notice party, the owner of property, including the owner of record at the time of a tax sale, as shown in the conveyance records of the appropriate parish, and any other person holding an interest, such as a mortgage, privilege, or other encumbrance on the property, including a tax sale purchaser, as shown in the mortgage and conveyance records of the appropriate parish.”).
- 2Woodard v. Upp, 2013-0999, pp. 5–7 (La. App. 1 Cir. 2/18/14), 142 So. 3d 14, 18–19.