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.